Last Wednesday night in the pre-dawn hours at approximately 4:30 a.m. an emergency call was received by United Hatzalah’s national dispatch and command center hotline at 1221. The call came in alerting the dispatch that a 15-year-old boy had lost consciousness in his home in the city of Holon.

 

The dispatch center alerted the closest responders to the incident and immediately Hillel Hamoi and Na’or Barel who both live one street away from where the incident took place, jumped out of bed and raced to the location of the incident. The pair of volunteer EMTs arrived in less than two minutes and were the first responders at the scene. The arrived at the boy’s side and saw that he was not breathing and had no pulse. The immediately begin CPR protocol that included several shocks from a defibrillator, compressions, and ventilation. The boy was taken to Wolfson hospital while he under sedated and breathing via a respirator.

The boy’s condition was listed as critical and doctors were not optimistic about his chance of survival. However, that same night that he was brought in, the boy regained consciousness to the shock and surprise of his entire medical team. He began to speak to his doctors and even joke with them.

 

The two volunteers went to visit the young boy in the intensive care ward of the hospital on Sunday to wish him well during his recuperation. The father of the young boy spoke to the volunteers who helped save his son’s life during the emotional meeting. “I remember that everything was very erratic. Everyone was stressed out and not sure what to do. You both arrived so fast that we were still on the phone with the dispatch center when you came in the door. Doctors here at the hospital have told me that there is no doubt that my son would be dead today if it wasn’t for your quick arrival and treatment.”  

 

Following the incident, the President and Founder of United Hatzalah Eli Beer said: “It is because of this young boy, and all the people like whom, whose lives have been saved by the speedy intervention of our volunteers spread across the country. No matter what time of day or night our volunteers respond and save the lives of people who are in their close proximity. Whether it is a neighbor, a friend, a family member or a total stranger, our volunteers drop whatever it is that they are doing in order to save lives. For that, I as well as all the other citizens of Israel who have received help from one or more of our volunteers at any point in time, are eternally grateful.”  

 

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