Exclusive – Stroke, Heart Attack & Car Crash, All in a Night’s Work
Stroke, Heart Attack and 3 Vehicle Car Crash, All in a Night’s Work for This Volunteer EMT
A few weeks ago, United Hatzalah volunteer Ilan Zechariah responded to someone who had suffered a stroke in a town very close to his. After administering emergency treatment, he hopped back on his ambucycle and headed back to his house in the small town of Shlomi near Israel’s northern border, but his night wasn’t done yet. On his way back home, he saw a 3-car collision occur right in front of him. The veteran EMT immediately jumped off his ambucycle and began triaging and then treating the injured people. By the time an ambulance arrived all the victims were treated and prepped for transport.
Just as Zechariah once again began to head home, he received an alert from United Hatzalah dispatch center notifying him to someone having severe chest pain near his current location. Once again Zechariah and his ambucycle went racing to the rescue and arrived promptly at the address. A 56 year-old man was sweating profusely and experiencing severe chest pain. However, the patient insisted that he was fine – it was the patient’s worried wife and daughter who had called for an ambulance. Zechariah validated their concern, for the man showed classic symptoms of a heart attack. Before he had a chance to do anything, though, the man’s eyes rolled and he collapsed to the floor, pulseless!
Zechariah grabbed his defibrillator, applied the pads and instantly delivered a shock. The man jerked as electricity coursed through his body and a pulse returned. A second later, he began to return to consciousness. Zechariah worked rapidly stabilizing the man’s condition, administering high-flow oxygen and setting up an IV line. The intensive care crew arrived 20 minutes later and the man was whisked away for emergency catheterization.
The grateful wife kept Zechariah informed of her husband’s condition, happily updating Zechariah that her husband was well on the way to a complete recovery. Doctors commented that such a dramatic rescue was more common in reality TV than in actual reality.
“I see helping people as a part of who I am and what I do,” Zechariah said. “It is the natural and normal thing to do. Thankfully I was able to learn how to help people and by volunteering with United Hatzalah, I have the knowledge and equipment necessary to do so. So how can I not help those in need around me?”
