On a recent Thursday morning at around 9:30 am, Chaim Meir Friedman from Kfar Chabad received an alert to a serious accident at the local cemetery. A golf cart used to drive people around the large cemetery had flipped off the path and skidded down the hill before finally landing in some bushes. Chaim immediately jumped on his ambucycle and sped over to the cemetery, easily navigating the narrow roadways through the area until he reached the accident site. He was quickly joined by additional forces, including a fire rescue team and ambulances.

Four people (two men and two women) had been injured. Chaim worked together with the team to extricate the victims and provide emergency medical intervention. One woman, in her seventies, had suffered serious injuries to her torso and lower limbs, as well as a significant head wound. She was quickly stabilized and then medivacked to the hospital while the other three patients, after receiving on-site treatment, were transported to the hospital by ambulances.

Chaim spoke a bit about why he volunteers with United Hatzalah. “I’m one of the earliest volunteers in the organization and it is simply astounding to me that people give up so much of their time to rush out and help others whom they don’t even know. This isn’t even a profession for these people, they are volunteers and they drop everything they are doing to rush out and save others. I am so proud to be a part of a group of people like this, how could I give it up. These are people who think differently than most other people. They always put “the other” person first. You have to have a different mindset in order to do that.”

Chaim also noticed that it was a bit out of the ordinary to save lives at a cemetery. “We respond to emergencies wherever they occur. This particular emergency was quite serious and I am happy that I was able to help the people in need when they needed even if it was inside a cemetery.”