Greenberg (right) with two other EMT’s in Netanya
IsraelSeen Exclusive – Giving The Patient a Second Chance
Effy Greenberg of Netanya comes from a family of French immigrants and runs a specialty pastry shop in the coastal city. Greenberg is an exceptionally devoted United Hatzalah volunteer EMT. When his radio or cell phone application alert him to an emergency in his vicinity, Greenberg leaves the bakery in the hands of one his employees and races out to save lives.
Late one Sunday evening, a car thief was tearing down Route 5 with the police hot on his trail. Suddenly, the wanted fugitive pulled his stolen vehicle over and attempted a getaway by foot. He was struck by an unsuspecting motorist, who came barreling down the darkened highway and slammed right into the young man.
Greenberg was at home when he received the urgent alert from United Hatzalah’s Dispatch and Command Center. Without a moment’s hesitation, Effy raced outside to his ambucycle and hopped on. Within just a few minutes he was on location and was the first responder at the scene.
Greenberg found the 20-year-old car thief in multisystem trauma, lying on the pavement unconscious in a pool of blood. Greenberg’s initial assessment found no signs of breathing. The young man was in critical danger. Effy immediately began CPR and attached a defibrillator. An intensive care ambulance crew arrived on scene a few minutes later to assist Greenberg in his lifesaving efforts. The team immobilized the patient on a backboard, opened an IV line to provide fluids and provided lifesaving oxygen. Greenberg and his colleagues helped load the patient into the ambulance for immediate evacuation. The young man was intubated, attached to respiratory support, and whisked off to the Level 1 Trauma Center at Beilinson Hospital for definitive care accompanied by his arresting officers.
Greenberg’s immediate medical intervention gave this man the greatest possible chance of survival and recovery.
