A routine drive along Route 433 turned into a lifesaving intervention when United Hatzalah volunteer medic Oren Cohen identified a vehicle driving erratically. His United Hatzalah training and instinct immediately kicked in and within seconds he prevented a fatal incident.

“I noticed the car swerving dangerously across lanes, and I was immediately suspicious,” Oren Cohen recalled. After attempting to alert the driver to no avail, Cohen quickly realized something was very wrong. “The driver’s head was slumped forward, and it appeared he had lost consciousness while still behind the wheel.”

Without hesitation, Cohen pulled his car over and rushed to the vehicle. In a matter of moments, he opened the car and jumped inside where he managed to bring the car to a stop and shut off the engine. “There is no doubt in my mind, we just averted a potentially catastrophic accident.”

Once the car was secured Cohen carefully extracted the unconscious driver from the vehicle and began providing initial medical treatment like his training taught him to do. Cohen remained with the patient until an intensive care ambulance team arrived to transport the driver to the hospital for further treatment.

“United Hatzalah is often first on the scene of emergencies across Israel. This is what our medical professionals are trained to do, but to recognize them unfold in real time is true heroism,” remarks Founder and President of United Hatzalah Eli Beer.