On Monday morning a man in his late 60s, who had previous medical conditions, was lying in bed in his home on Ohel Yaakov Street and told his family that he was feeling some pain in his chest. His worried son-in-law quickly called a friend of his from work who is a volunteer EMT with United Hatzalah and alerted him of the situation.
When Yehoyada Tubul received the phone call from his coworker, he immediately called United Hatzalah’s Dispatch and Command Center and alerted them to the emergency while he rushed over to the address. Yehoyada had the foresight to ask them to send a mobile intensive care ambulance to the address as well. “You never take a chance with chest pains, especially for an older person,” Yehoyada said after the incident.
When Yehoyada arrived he found the older gentleman lying in bed, conscious and awake, surrounded by worried family members. “I sat him up on his bed and began talking to him,” Yehoyada recounted. “He was wearing a coat and a sweater so I needed to remove his arm from the sleeve to take his blood pressure. I took his vital signs and asked him if he could show me the area that hurt. He said it was not a specific area but pain all over his chest.”
As Yehoyada finished checking the man’s vital signs the mobile intensive care ambulance showed up. While the paramedic was attaching a heart monitor and talking to the patient, he suddenly fell backward on his bed and lost consciousness. The ambulance team finished attaching the monitor while Yehoyada, after not finding a pulse, launched into compressions on the bed. The team was preparing to move the patient to the floor to continue compressions but the monitor advised a shock and after clearing the patient, the shock was delivered. The second round of compressions ensued immediately, and the man suddenly opened his eyes, coughed, and tried to vomit.
“The whole CPR took about a minute and a half and the man came back to us. He opened his eyes, threw up, and was very bewildered at what had happened. It was incredibly quick. We were all surprised that the man came back to full consciousness that quickly as well.”
Yehoyada assisted the ambulance team in placing the man on the stretcher bed and bringing him to the ambulance. “The entire experience was inspiring for me. I’ve done a lot of CPRs, but this one was different. Having my friend call me up asking for me to come to help his father-in-law as the whole situation was developing, and my quick arrival and intervention is what saved his life. The fact that we were there as his heart attack took place and were able to provide immediate treatment and bring him out of his VF (ventricular fibrillation) made all the difference. I am thankful to have been a part of it.”
