World Builders

Between Delivery and Deliverance

By Raphael Poch

Gili with his United Hatzalah ambucycle and his postal motorcycle

Zichron Yaakov - 46-year-old Gili Gahuzi is a married man and father of three who has been working as a deliveryman for 20 years now. On a regular workday, Gili covers approximately 16 kilometers of ground, drinks a few liters of water, and continues his deliveries of packages across 35 square blocks, mostly in Zichron Yaakov but also in Binyamina. According to Gili, the packages grow heavier every year. Despite the workload of his job, in his spare time, Gili volunteers as an EMT for United Hatzalah and sometimes uses his EMT skills even during his working hours.

Gili joined United Hatzalah in 2014 together with his friend Pinchas Sterling, who is now the head of the Yokneam chapter. The two EMTs were of the first volunteers of the organization in the Yokneam chapter, and now, responding to emergencies has become ingrained in their daily routines. Gili often bumps into medical emergencies while delivering packages. He ends up switching hats and begins performing lifesaving treatments and, then, when the emergency is over, he returns to delivering packages. One of these incidents occurred just last

week when Gili saved a life in Binyamina while on his delivery rounds.

“I was parked with my delivery motorcycle at the Binyamina chapter headquarters when I was alerted to a medical emergency occurring in the train station,” Gili shared. “The Binyamina train station was very close to where I was parked, so I jumped on my motorcycle, where I keep my medical bag at all times, and rushed over to the train station.

“I was the first emergency medical personnel at the scene. I assessed and treated an injured woman who had fallen and kept her in stable condition until the ambulance arrived. After the ambulance came to transport the woman, I returned to my motorcycle and continued delivering mail.”

Gili said that in recent years when ordering a package online is a matter of a click, packages have become larger and heavier to deliver, people are receiving fewer letters and more packages. In the first half of 2021 alone, there was a 70% increase in the number of packages being delivered in Zichron Yaakov. 112,000 packages have been ordered and eventually delivered in Gili’s motorcycle.

“As a deliveryman, many custom-

ers have my phone number,” added Gili. “The other day, a woman called my phone and told me her father had collapsed in their home. I rushed over and began performing CPR that ended up saving his life.

“Spontaneously switching hats has become part of who I am. Sometimes responding to emergencies takes a person away from their job, it takes a person away from spending time with their family, or even disturbs their sleep. However, in the end, it is worth it because there’s no greater feeling in this world than being able to save a life.”

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Gili often bumps into medical emergencies while delivering packages.