On Monday morning just after 10:00 a.m., a 75-year-old man who suffers from a disability fell from his wheelchair and sustained a serious head injury on Sderot Yerushalayim Street. The man was semi-conscious and confused when his wife called United Hatzalah’s Dispatch and Command Center, but he quickly deteriorated and lost consciousness completely.
David Yashr is a United Hatzalah volunteer EMT hailing from the city of Holon. David joined United Hatzalah when it was founded in 2006, and has been saving lives ever since. Together with being one of the first EMTs to join the Holon chapter, David is also one of the more active volunteers and has responded to hundreds of medical emergencies involving CPR. On Monday, David was located as being one of the closest responders to the incident and rushed over to assist.
David arrived quickly and found the pulseless man on the floor with minimal bleeding from his head. After controlling the bleeding, David attached his defibrillator which advised a shock. After the first shock was administered, United Hatzalah volunteers Avraham Samora and Yitzchak Rabi arrived at the scene and joined David in the CPR efforts.
After a few rounds of chest compressions and ventilations, the defibrillator advised another shock, and a second shock was delivered. The three EMTs were then joined by additional medical personnel, and the group continued CPR on the 75-year-old man for close to an hour. Almost 60 minutes after David dropped everything and arrived to help the man, the team was finally able to stabilize his pulse.
After a few minutes of monitoring his condition, and continuous ventilatory support, a mobile intensive care ambulance arrived at the scene and transported the man to Sheba Medical Center for further observation. David joined the other EMS volunteers and together, the relieved team breathed a sigh of relief knowing that they helped to save this man’s life.
“When I handed the patient off to the ambulance team, I told the paramedic that I suspected an underlying medical issue that caused the man to fall,” commented David. “The initial emergency was that the man fell and injured his head, causing him to lose consciousness. I think that the man lost consciousness due to an underlying medical problem, and that is why he fell. I may be misinterpreting what I saw, but as an experienced EMT handing off a patient for transport, I have learned that it is very important to voice your thoughts and suspicions regarding the cause of a patient’s condition as the insight may be valuable for later treatment.”
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