Just before 11 p.m. on Saturday night, a United Hatzalah ambulance led by Tanya Kuchar Weil was departing the emergency room parking lot at Meir Hospital when they received an emergency alert regarding an unconscious woman in a senior’s residence in Kfar Saba. United Hatzalah volunteer EMT Tamar Greenbaum Ben Ari, was volunteering at the hospital as part of United Hatzalah’s Emergency Room Relief Program and had joined the ambulance team for a lift home. Also, on board the ambulance was EMTs David Bader and Boaz Duchan.
Tanya flicked on the flashing lights and rushed to the senior’s residence. The ambulance team, including Tamar, rushed inside and were directed to the room of the collapsed woman.
Muslim volunteers from United Hatzalah Dima Varda from Taybe, and Maher Atamni from Baqa-al- Gharbiyye, who were in Kfar Saba were already at the scene and had initiated CPR.
Tanya’s team joined the efforts of Dima and Maher, alternating compressions and assisted ventilation. The team kept up their resuscitative efforts for quite some time. When the mobile intensive care ambulance arrived, they also joined the effort to save the woman’s life administering medications to assist the CPR effort and try to bring the woman’s pulse back.
After more than an hour of combined effort, the team finally succeeded in bringing the woman’s pulse back. Once she was stable enough, she was transported to the hospital in the mobile intensive care ambulance. Tamar joined the ambulance team for transport to help treat the patient en route to the hospital.
“We worked together terrifically as a team,” Tamar said. “The mobile intensive care ambulance team asked me to join as they had come from a different city and didn’t know the ins and outs of the hospital well. I was happy to join, and when we arrived I connected the patient with the ER team in the hospital in order to make sure she got the fastest treatment possible.”
Dima added: “I was in Kfar Saba shopping, and there were three emergencies one after the other. I was happy that I was able to be a part of such an incredible life-saving team. We all worked together so well, the first responders and both ambulances and we gave this woman the best chance at survival that we could. I am proud to have been a part of it.”
“Tamar is an amazing volunteer,” Tanya said. “She stayed with us after a long shift in the emergency room for the entirety of the CPR, and then returned to the emergency room with the ambulance, even though it was past midnight and it was her birthday. Her self-sacrifice to help others is really incredible. The same thing holds true for both Dima and Maher who in spite of being from other cities participated in the lengthy CPR tonight before returning home. Working together with a team of such dedicated volunteers, Jewish and Muslim alike are really inspiring for me and I am proud to be a part of it.”
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