Last Friday, we reported that a woman in her 40s in Rosh Tzurim, a religious kibbutz south of Jerusalem in Judea (Man with EpiPen Saves Woman with Anaphylactic Shock in Rosh Tzurim). On Sunday, a yeshiva student was in his classroom on Ben Uziel Street in Elad, when he got an allergic reaction after coming in contact with peaches, to which he is severely allergic.
A theme is emerging.
United Hatzalah Dispatch and Command center got the call regarding the emergency and alerted all first responders in the vicinity. Mordechai Shimoni, a volunteer EMT with the organization, was in his minivan nearby when his communications device sounded the alert. Mordechai immediately drove to the scene where he found the yeshiva student suffering from severe swelling and a bad rash on his back. The student managed to tell Mordechai that he had a scorching and burning sensation all over his body.
Mordechai asked for backup and a mobile intensive care ambulance. At the same time, he injected the young man with an EpiPen auto-injection device. A few moments later, the boy’s swelling subsided and his situation stabilized. When the ambulance arrived the young man was taken to the hospital for continuing treatment and observation.
The epinephrine autoinjector (also known by the trademark EpiPen) is a medical device for injecting a measured dose of epinephrine (also known as adrenaline) using autoinjector technology. It is most often used for the treatment of anaphylaxis (a serious, potentially fatal allergic reaction and medical emergency that is rapid in onset and requires immediate medical attention). The first epinephrine autoinjector was brought to market in 1983.
Mordechai said: ‘’The anaphylactic reaction the yeshiva student experienced was severe but not the worst I have treated. The worst anaphylactic reaction I saw took place this past Purim and it almost killed the patient. In that situation, if I hadn’t injected him with an EpiPen he would’ve died in minutes.’’
The incident on Purim took place at 4 AM when Mordechai’s proximity alert went off and he rushed over to the scene and saw a man with severe swelling on his face and body. The patient couldn’t walk or even open his eyes. A doctor arrived on the scene, but Mordechai, after consulting with the doctor, didn’t want to wait any longer and injected the patient with the EpiPen. In a few minutes, the patient’s swelling went down and he was out of immediate danger. The ambulance arrived not long after and transferred the man to the hospital.
Mordechai said: ‘’I know how effective the EpiPen injection is and how fast it works on this kind of reaction. An EpiPen is an absolute necessity to have and save many lives.”
