On Monday around 9:00 PM, a man, 21, was shot in a gas station off the main road near Umm al-Fahm. The shooting appeared untargeted, but the perpetrator is still on the loose. Passersby called emergency services for help.
As soon as United Hatzalah volunteer EMT Ans Jabarin was notified of the emergency, he ran out of his house, jumped on his motorcycle, and arrived in under 3 minutes at the side of the victim.
The gas station was crowded with people who were disturbed by the act of violence they had just witnessed. Many of them were yelling and screaming for help. Ans immediately took control of the situation. He asked the crowded civilians to give him space so he could treat the patient.
Ans quickly assessed the victim’s situation. The man had sustained two bullet wounds, one on his right leg and one on his lower back. He was semi-conscious and rapidly losing large amounts of blood. Ans bandaged up the wounds to stop the blood flow, then inserted two IVs with fluids to make up for what the patient had lost from the open wounds.
“As soon as the patient’s wounds were wrapped up and he was hooked up to fluids, we could see clearly that he was regaining strength,” said Ans with relief.
United Hatzalah volunteer EMT Sanaa Mahameed, the first Muslim woman serving in an ambucycle Unit of United Hatzalah, was at work, driving her ambulance. When she received the notification of the emergency she drove straight to the gas station, arriving on the scene together with an intensive care ambulance.
With Ans’ help, Sanaa transferred the patient into the ambulance for quick transport to the nearest hospital for continued treatment.
“As you can imagine, the first few incidents of violence that I responded to as an EMT were pretty traumatic and emotional for me,” Ans related. “By now this has already become something I am almost used to, sadly. It is far too regular an occurrence here in the Muslim towns in Galilee. Even though it’s difficult to witness these instances, I manage to keep a cool head and treat the patient without letting my emotions get in the way. There will be time for that when the patient is stabilized and safe.”
“It’s a real honor to be part of the ambucycle unit,” said Sanaa. “It helps me arrive quickly to many emergencies such as this one. Unfortunately, there are cases of shootings very often in our area, so I try to respond to as many as I can in order to help.”
