United Hatzalah volunteer EMT Asheri Angel lives in the quiet town of Nehalim, located next to Petach Tikvah. Ashri has been a volunteer EMT for quite some time and is married and a proud father.

One night a few weeks ago, just after midnight, Asheri was already in bed when his bluebird communication device buzzed, alerting him to a serious road accident at the nearby highway interchange between Route 40 and Route 1. The dedicated EMT jumped out of bed, threw on his shoes and a warm jacket and ran out of the house into the bitter cold night. He raced to the location and was one of the first responders to arrive at the scene. He immediately triaged the patients so that he could instruct the next volunteers who arrived whom to treat first.

Two cars had collided at high speed. One driver lay sprawled on the ground, conscious but suffering from various injuries. Four women from the other vehicle had also been injured, one seriously. Asheri worked with the additional volunteers who also had begun to arrive and directed them to the more seriously injured patients to provide initial treatment and stabilize the victims.

A volunteer paramedic arrived and took over scene management. Asheri then turned to treat the injured people. He affixed neck braces, immobilized the patients, and helped transfer them into responding ambulances for medical evacuation.

Upon hearing that there had also been a baby in one of the cars, Asheri scanned the area looking for the missing infant. He found her in the car of a concerned passer-by, who had brought her into his vehicle to keep her out of the frigid cold. Asheri checked the baby for injuries and ensured that she was transported to the hospital for a thorough assessment.

“Waking up in the middle of the night to rush out and save someone’s life is not easy but it fills me with a sense of fulfillment,” said Asheri.

Asheri returned home, grateful for his warm bed after being outside in the freezing air and gratified that he had been able to help these people in their time of serious need.

(Photo of Asheri at a different accident)