Exclusive – United Hatzalah volunteer EMT and course instructor Boaz Zakkai,
United Hatzalah volunteer EMT and course instructor Boaz Zakkai, has been as busy as ever responding to calls and saving lives in addition to teaching trainees how to do the same.
2 weeks ago, concerned parents brought their little boy to a community medical clinic in the French Hill neighborhood of Jerusalem. The baby was wheezing loudly and started gasping for air. Within minutes, the child had turned blue and lost consciousness. Nurses on-staff dialed the emergency hotline before attempting to treat the patient, as the terrified parents watched on in trepidation.
Boaz was riding his ambucycle right nearby, when United Hatzalah dispatch alerted him to the incident. In less than three minutes, the committed volunteer arrived on location.
Dashing inside, Boaz found the 12-month-old boy lying unconscious, with no sign of breath or pulse. Unaccustomed to unexpected emergencies and given the tiny patient’s delicate condition, the clinic nurses were unsure how to best proceed with resuscitation protocol. The United Hatzalah EMT coordinated rescue efforts – he asked staff on-call to accompany the anxious parents to an adjacent wait room, as he commenced with lifesaving CPR.
Several minutes later, the crew of a Mobile Intensive Care Unit arrived to assist. Boaz and his colleagues intubated the tiny patient and opened an IV for rapid access to fluids and medications. As they provided oxygen-enriched assisted ventilation, the team worked to stabilize the little boy’s condition and prep him for transport. The baby was evacuated to the nearest emergency room for further definitive care. Boaz’s rapid arrival to the scene within seconds helped save this baby’s life.
“There is no greater feeling than knowing that you have just saved a life, especially the life of a child. The only thing that can compare is the knowledge that I help train others to do this everyday. Saving lives is a force multiplier because the person who I save today will go on to do many great things in the future and this is just like training EMS students. When I train students and hear their stories of the lives that they have saved, I become even more enriched by knowing that I had a hand in helping that person as well. It isn’t the same as saving the life myself, but it comes very close. The joy I feel is the same for every life that I had a hand in saving.”
Boaz spoke about how saving a life overrides everything else. “The things we hold most dear, our jobs, our families, even Shabbat, they all come second to helping to save a life. That is why, as a first responder I leave important meetings, or even run out from my family’s Shabbat table to save a life. On the day that I cannot turn a car on, not even carry the keys, I do bot in order to rush out and save a life if it is needed. There is no greater ideal and no greater feeling than accomplishing this.”
