On Sunday morning, a 100-year-old woman suffered a sudden cardiac arrest in her home on Ilona Feher Street in Holon. Her caregiver came to check on her and found the elderly woman lying on the floor unconscious, not breathing, and without a pulse. The caregiver immediately called emergency medical services for help and alerted the family.
Chen Bador, a United Hatzalah volunteer EMT who lives nearby, was at home when his proximity alert went off alerting him about the emergency. Chen immediately left his house, got on his ambucycle, and drove to the woman’s home, arriving in less than three minutes.
Chen and another first responder immediately started chest compressions along with assisted ventilation, while attaching a defibrillator. A few minutes later, a mobile intensive care unit arrived and gave the woman medications and advanced CPR.
The woman’s daughter was frenetic, and Chen, who is also a psychotrauma and crisis response unit (PCRU) volunteer, provided her with psychological to stabilize her. After talking with Chen, the daughter was able to cope with the situation and assisted the medical team with her mother’s medical background information.
After a few more rounds of chest compressions, the woman’s pulse returned, much to the relief of her family and the EMS personnel, and she was transported to a nearby hospital.
Reflecting on the incident, Chen said: “The reason I became an EMT volunteer was to help people by doing acts of lovingkindness for those around me. Whoever needs help, I help. It’s a wonderful feeling to help people in need, fulfilling the command to save a life.”
