On Monday afternoon, just after 3:00 p.m. a man in his 60s  standing in the check-out line of a local supermarket on Jabotinsky Street in Ramat Gan suddenly collapsed. As the man fell, he hit his head on the check-out counter and suffered a serious contusion. Worried on-lookers called emergency services for help.  

Adiel Pinchas who volunteers as an EMT with United Hatzalah, was at work in a school nearby when he received the alert to the medical emergency. Adiel, who works as a service manager for a cleaning company, quickly apologized to his client and rushed out to his ambucycle parked nearby. He jumped on the vehicle and raced to the given address. Rushing into the store, Adiel found a man had already begun chest compressions. Adiel, after verifying that the man indeed had no pulse and that the bystander was doing the compressions appropriately, took out his oxygen canister and non-rebreather BVM and began to ventilate the patient. Adiel then rotated with the bystander until other EMS personnel could arrive. 

 

United Hatzalah volunteer Shmuel Dahouki arrived quickly after Adiel and the pair carried on with the CPR efforts. A defibrillator was attached and it did not advise a shock. A few minutes later an ambulance arrived and the crew joined the CPR already in progress working together as a team. After 25 minutes the defibrillator finally advised a shock. Once received, the patient’s pulse returned and the team succeeded at stabilizing the man’s pulse enough to transport him to the Hospital, located not too far away. 

 

“After the patient was transported to the hospital, I walked out of the store with a glint in my eyes and a huge smile on my face,” Adiel said. “There is no feeling in the world like the one a person gets after saving a life. I was a bit thirsty and went to purchase a drink at the corner store down the street before heading back to work. The clerk saw me and asked what had just happened because he said he saw me glowing with pride. I told him what had occurred and he became overjoyed to hear the news. These acts of kindness are contagious, and when I succeed at saving someone’s life, it gives me every reason in the world to keep doing what I do. I am happy to be a volunteer EMT and be on call 24/7 in order to save lives.” 

To support the work of United Hatzalah volunteers like Adiel and Shmuel, please click here: