Real Life Rescues

Amid Rocket Barrage Towards the City, Rishon LeZion Man Saved From Cardiac Arrest

Last Friday, amid the rocket barrages aimed at Israel from Gaza, a man in his 50s collapsed in a shopping center near Rishon LeZion having suffered a spontaneous cardiac arrest. After bystanders began screaming for help, staff members from a clinic inside the shopping center arrived at the scene and called emergency services for backup.

United Hatzalah volunteer EMT Daniel Tubiana had just finished responding to another emergency when he was alerted to the incident by the shopping center. He immediately headed to the mall on his ambucycle and found the staff from the clinic performing CPR on the patient, with a defibrillator attached. He joined in the resuscitation efforts, performing chest compressions and providing assisted ventilation to the patient. After several minutes of intense work, which included three electric shocks administered by the AED, the patient regained full consciousness.

“It was an amazing feeling,” recounted Daniel. Just an hour earlier, I arrived at the scene of another cardiac arrest after the patient’s pulse was restored. Now I responded to a second incident in which a person also suffered a cardiac arrest, and this time I had the privilege of saving a life. For me, this was very powerful, more so than regular rescues particularly given the current security context."

Despite the tense situation in Rishon LeZion due to multiple rocket attacks against the city, Tubiana remained calm and focused during the incident. "Indeed, I felt a sense of urgency due to the situation," Tubiana said. "But I was determined to do my job and help those in need.”