Israel Seen Exclusive – What It Means to Be a Symbol of Lifesaving
Last Sunday, Ari Nussbaum was at his home in the Givat Ze’ev neighborhood of Jerusalem with his feet up when he heard screams coming from outside his door followed by loud knocking. The ever-alert medic jumped up and ran outside. A woman was standing on his doorstep screaming, “Call an ambulance!” Ari ran downstairs to where his ambucycle was parked, grabbed his equipment from the back of the vehicle and followed the woman quickly to her house above his own in the same complex.
The woman’s husband lay silently on the floor. In a second, Nussbaum was at his side and began examining him. The man was semi-conscious with weak breathing. Nussbaum alerted United Hatzalah dispatch to send an ambulance to his location. He then ventilated the patient with high-flow oxygen and took a full set of vitals. He kept on stabilizing the man’s condition until an intensive care ambulance arrived and transported the patient to the hospital.
Once the patient was in the ambulance and on his way to the hospital, Nussbaum collected his equipment and returned home. Later on that week, Nussbaum received a knock on his door. When he opened it, he was surprised to find the very same man standing in front of him. The former patient updated Nussbaum that his collapse had been the beginning of a heart attack. The immediate intervention he received from Nussbaum prevented further deterioration and enabled the issue to be dealt with quickly and efficiently at the hospital. Full of gratitude the patient thanked Nussbaum profusely for coming so quickly to his aid.
“In her panic, my wife had simply run to the window to see if your high-visibility ambucycle was parked outside to determine if you were home. Once she saw it there she began to scream knowing that you could not be far away,” the patient told Nussbaum. “Thank you for being here and thank you for proudly displaying your ambucycle on our street. It not only makes us feel safer, but it saved my life.”
After the meeting his former patient Agassi said, “I’ve been volunteering with United Hatzalah since its inception there is no greater feeling to see a person who I have treated who is alive and healthy, this person was a neighbor of mine I see him every day so that feeling is something that I get to experience every day. This is an amazing organization that does incredible work. Had it not already existed we would need to create it. Thankfully it does exist and I have been able to save many lives by being a part of it. The organization to me is a true symbol of life-saving itself.”
