Exclusive – Worker Survives 6 Meter Fall Thanks to Fast Responding Volunteer
The week before Yom Kippur, a 24-year-old worker on Yishuv Nitzan was cleaning recessed solar panels on a sloped roof when he slipped and fell off the building’s edge. Tumbling 6 meters towards the ground, the man’s forehead slammed into the protruding edge of a large industrial container, before he crumpled to the ground in a bloodied heap.
Upon receiving the urgent alert, Shlomo Dvir jumped on his ambucycle and raced along the rural roads, arriving first on the scene. He found the semi-conscious man sprawled on the ground bleeding profusely from a huge gash in his forehead. The experienced medic quickly staunched the victim’s bleeding and bandaged the gaping wound with a combat dressing.
Concerned for a concussion and intracranial hemorrhaging (ICH), Dvir knew this man needed to reach a trauma center ASAP. After verifying that the ambulance was still too far away, Shlomo secured the man in a private vehicle for immediate transport to the hospital.
A week later, two days before Yom Kippur, the man showed up at Dvir’s home with a huge scar on his forehead. He related to Shlomo how he had spent 3 days in the hospital with a minor intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), but is recovering well. The grateful individual told Dvir how he simply had to thank the man who had saved his life. He, therefore, went back to the scene of the accident and made inquiries as to whom was his savior. A quick call to United Hatzalah and he had Dvir’s name. The man then emotionally thanked Dvir for coming to his rescue, in his time of greatest need.
“This is why we do what we do,” said Eli Beer, Founder and President of United Hatzalah. “We don’t do it for the thanks, we do it to save lives. Each and every one of our volunteers saves lives just like Shlomo Dvir did. The force multiplier of 3,500 volunteers going out and saving lives each day creates a scenario in which Israel has developed one of, if not the, fastest EMS response time in the world. And remember, there are all volunteers. None of them get paid for putting their own lives on hold to go out and help others. The simply do it, and do it well.”
