An Israeli military medical team rescued a Palestinian Authority Arab girl Thursday in Hebron who suddenly went into respiratory distress.
The team, serving with the Border Guard Police, responded to an emergency call from the family who said the child was having trouble breathing, according to Israel’s Channel 2 TV.
Upon arrival paramedic Sgt. Shai Chen also found that the girl’s pulse was irregular. He quickly hooked her up to oxygen, speaking to calm her down as he did so.
“I told her I was with her and that everything is fine,” he said, adding that he was able to stabilize her condition after she started receiving oxygen.
The Arab family thanked the medic and the emergency response unit for its quick assistance. “We were given care and slowly her breathing returned to normal,” family members said.
Fighters on the scene transferred the child for further treatment by medics from the Red Crescent emergency service, who arrived later.
“The entire family thanked us,” a spokesperson for the Border Guard Police said. This is not the first case in which a paramedic has provided primary care and life-saving intervention for local Arabs. In recent months, battalion medic Sgt. Krissy Lidor saved the lives of three residents.
