On Sunday evening, a year-and-a-half-old baby was brought by his parents to the Iron medical center in Kfar Kara after he had choked. The baby wasn’t breathing and didn’t have a pulse. The panicked mother explained that the boy was choking on food that he had recently eaten.
Yasef Gziel Badawi, a United Hatzalah volunteer EMT who also volunteers at the medical center was present when the unconscious baby arrived. Yasef performed 3 sets of abdominal thrusts mixed with measured back blows. Within a few moments, his efforts were successful and the baby began breathing once again.
Yasef checked the baby’s vital signs and saw his oxygen saturation level was low, so he provided the baby with high-flow oxygen and the baby’s condition stabilized. A few minutes later, a mobile intensive care ambulance arrived and transformed the baby to a nearby hospital.
After the incident, Yasef recalled, ‘’This was my first time treating an unconscious baby. I started volunteering as an EMT a few months ago and I haven’t yet had to deal with this type of situation. Thankfully, I had excellent training and knew exactly what needed to be done. I felt joy when I saw the baby regain consciousness and all the stress the parents were feeling dissipated when they saw the danger had passed. Saving lives is so fulfilling.”
