IsraelSeen Exclusive: EMT Saves Car Accident Victim Only to Discover It Was His Neighbor
Omri Gavia was responding to a late-night call last week when he received yet another alert from United Hatzalah’s dispatch center. There was a motor vehicle accident and a wounded driver in need of immediate medical attention. Having already secured this first patient and passed him off to the next level of care, Gavia raced over to the second call on his ambucycle. He arrived at the scene in less than 60 seconds.
Gavia discovered an adult female badly injured after her car was struck by another vehicle that had run a red light. The injured woman was still conscious, but she was trapped in her vehicle and unable to feel her extremities. As Gavia began treating the woman, she recognized him as her neighbor from their moshav, Megadim. The sight of the familiar EMS responder made a tremendous difference in reassuring the wounded patient.
Firefighters arrived on scene to forcibly remove the door and extricate her from the vehicle. As soon as the woman was clear of the car, Gavia provided her with emergency medical treatment on the spot. He stemmed her bleeding, carefully bandaged the head wound she had suffered, and took her vital signs. When the ambulance crew arrived, Gavia helped transfer his neighbor to the back of the ambulance, to be whisked away to the nearest trauma center.
The woman was discharged from the hospital just a few days after the incident occurred and headed home. Once there, she could not stop thanking Gavia for his quick arrival, personal warmth, and skillful intervention that made all the difference for her during her time of need.
After hearing about the incident, President and Founder of United Hatzalah Eli Beer said, “Our volunteers such as Omri continually put the needs of other people ahead of their own and drop whatever they are doing to save the lives of those around them. Omri’s neighbor is in much better condition now thanks to the speed with which Omri was able to arrive at the scene. This is what makes our countrywide network of volunteers so effective: the selfless dedication of those same volunteers. It is how we arrive at emergencies in less than 3 minutes, and in major urban centers in less than 90 seconds. It is how we are able to save lives and help people like Omri’s neighbor.”
