Early Wednesday afternoon, a young girl, 3, drowned in a private pool at a residential home in Dimona. Family members who discovered the girl pulled her out of the pool and called emergency services for help.
Husband and wife Zion and Rachel Rozilio, both United Hatzalah EMTs, received the proximity alert on their communication devices.
“We were sitting at home eating lunch with our children when we got the alert,” Zion recalled. “We rushed to our car and drove to the address only a few blocks away. The mother was standing outside and ushered us into the house. When we found the young girl she was already blue.”
After checking for a pulse and finding none, Rachel began compressions on the young girl’s chest, while Zion connected a bag valve mask (BVM) and began providing assisted ventilation.
“We were the first responder to arrive and thus we carried on performing CPR on the girl by ourselves until another volunteer arrived,” Zion said.
Moishe Francoise was the other volunteer. He happened to be in Dimona for work after having finished his EMT training three days earlier. He joined the Rozilios at the scene and assisted in the rescue effort.
“An ambulance came about 6 or 7 minutes later,” Zion said. “They also joined our effort to revive the girl, and it paid off. After a few more minutes, the girl’s coloring started turning back to normal and her pulse came back. Eventually, she began to take some breaths on her own.”
Rachel added, “It was a miracle her pulse came back. She was transported to Soroka Hospital in serious but stable condition. A bit later on in the afternoon, I heard from one of the doctors that the girl’s situation had improved and she had begun fully breathing on her own. We are very grateful to have been in the right place at the right time to help.”
Zion concluded: “We know the family, they are from our community, and I am very glad that we were able to help today, and hopefully prevent a serious tragedy. This isn’t the first time I’ve done CPR on a child. A few years ago, a child was left in a hot car and I responded, but unfortunately, the child didn’t make it. This time, we were able to help and save the child’s life. For that, I am very grateful.”
