On Sunday just after 9 AM, a man fell from a ladder while doing housework in the village of Jatt near Haifa. His worried relatives immediately called emergency services for help.
Nashat Watad, a dentist who volunteers as an EMT with United Hatzalah, was at home when he was alerted by dispatch about the incident. After apologizing to his family, he ran to his car and raced to the emergency, arriving first at the scene.
“It’s always a privilege for me to help save someone’s life or provide him medical assistance,” Nashat said later, “but in this instance, it was even more so because the person I rescued was an old classmate of mine from school. I’m glad I was able to help him after the injury.”
The patient, in his late 50s, was lying on his right side and screaming with pain. Nashat performed a quick trauma assessment and was concerned that the man had suffered various fractures. Nashat immobilized the man in several places, including his legs, to limit the effects of the trauma. He was joined moments later by another first responder, who assisted him in applying a cervical collar to the patient’s neck.
Ten minutes later, an ambulance arrived and the medical personnel at the scene loaded the injured man onto a backboard to further immobilize his spine. The first responders carried the patient down the building’s narrow staircase and placed him in the ambulance to be transported to the nearest hospital for further treatment.
“I make it a point to dedicate my free time to saving as many lives as I can, no matter the location or the time of the day,” Nashat said.
