A few minutes after 9:00 p.m. on Saturday night, Israel’s emergency services were called due to a violent fight between two families in Kfar Sallama, a Bedouin village in northern Israel, which left three people injured.
Yehuda Nordman is a United Hatzalah volunteer EMT from Ramat Gan. He was enjoying a relaxing weekend up north with his friends. When he received the notification alerting him to the emergency. Yehuda and his friends were swimming at the time in a pool. Yehuda selflessly made the quick decision to give up his vacation time with his friends for the benefit of helping those in need, jumped out of the pool, grabbed his clothes and medical kit and raced out to help the victims.
When Yehuda reached the entrance to Kfar Sallama, he stopped and waited for further instructions from dispatch. The dispatch center received word from those in the village that there was gun violence and therefore he had to wait for the police to arrive in order to safely enter the village. Additional medical responders and an intensive care ambulance arrived and joined Yehuda at the entrance.
A few moments later, the three injured people exited Kfar Sallama with the help of local residents. The injured were an 18-year-old boy, a 70-year-old man, and an 18-year-old girl. Yehuda started treatment with a quick assessment of the patients’ physical injuries and checked for brain damage or concussions. “The patients refused to speak with us or tell us anything about the nature of the violent fight,” Yehuda recounted after the fact. “I think they were afraid we would tell the police and they weren’t comfortable with their involvement. There was talk that a gun was involved in the fight, but thankfully none of the patients suffered from gunshot wounds. The injuries were mainly contusions and there was no external bleeding. However each of the people we treated has sustained blunt force trauma. One of the patients was hit on the head and the damage seemed severe. The paramedic suspected that he had possible brain damage.”
Once all the patients finished treatment, Yehuda returned to his friends. “All in all, I went back to my friends feeling satisfied that I was able to help others, even while on vacation.”
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