On Sunday morning, a man was seriously injured and another man sustained light injuries in a stabbing incident on Dr. Shmorek street in Netanya. According to initial reports, the incident was criminal in nature.

United Hatzalah volunteer EMT Shimon Eliyahu was driving his ambucycle a few minutes away when he was alerted by the dispatch center after eyewitnesses reported the emergency. Shimon flicked on his lights and sirens and raced to the address he received on his communications device, arriving first at the scene.

“As I was approaching the location of the emergency, I heard a voice coming from a vehicle that was stopped on the side of the road, screaming ‘He is in the car!’,” the first responder recounted after the incident. ”I stopped on the side of the road and opened the car door to begin treating the patient.”

The volunteer found a man in his 30s lying in the backseat of the car, having sustained serious stabbing injuries in the groin area, while another man was applying pressure on the injuries in order to stop the bleeding. The man applying the pressure was also lightly wounded himself. “Since he seemed to be feeling well and was doing a good job, I told him to continue while I inspected the other patient to diagnose his overall condition,” Shimon added.

Noticing the patient seemed on the verge of losing consciousness, the first responder took out his oxygen tank, attached a no-rebreather mask, and provided him with high-flow oxygen, helping him stay conscious until the arrival of the mobile intensive care unit. Moments later, additional first responders arrived at the scene and were able to take over and free the second injured individual from the task of stopping his friend’s bleeding. United Hatzalah volunteer EMT Eliezer Elishayov attended to him and bandaged the minor wound on his arm.

Minutes later, a mobile intensive care unit arrived at the scene and transferred the seriously injured patient to the nearest hospital.

After the transport, Shimon reflected on the incident: “No matter the type of emergency I respond to, it’s always a privilege for me to contribute to saving a life. I’m grateful for the knowledge and technological means that allow me to do so, especially in cases of serious trauma such as this one.”

Eliezer added: “When I get an alert about an emergency, I don’t think twice and even if there are already first responders at the scene, I know that that they can always use another pair of hands. This is what I did today and I am glad that I could be of help to someone in a difficult time for them.”

To support the work of United Hatzalah volunteers such as Shimon and Eliezer, please click here.