On Friday morning at 9:30 am, United Hatzalah volunteer EMT Natan Balti was at home in the southern city of Eilat when he was alerted to a nearby medical emergency. A 35-year-old woman with a suspected psychiatric background was found semi-conscious on her friend's apartment floor. In under two minutes, Natan and a second volunteer had arrived to provide assistance.
The volunteers were ushered into the apartment by the woman's friend who alerted them that the situation had deteriorated. Natan found the 35-year-old woman completely unresponsive on the floor. He and his partner quickly began CPR, unable to detect a pulse in the unconscious woman. Chest compressions and assisted ventilation were utilized, as it was not advised to use a defibrillator.
CPR efforts continued for a further half an hour until the ambulance care crew arrived. Just as the crew was entering, Natan and his colleague returned her pulse. EMTs suspected possible drug abuse, and with her psychiatric background, resulted in cardiac arrest.
She was taken to the hospital, where she, unfortunately, passed away a few hours later.
Then, late Friday night, Natan was enjoying Shabbat with his wife when he was alerted to another call nearby.
A 74-year-old woman was found unconscious on the couch by her husband. The husband had noticed something was wrong and alerted his neighbor, who called United Hatzalah, and soon Natan arrived with a second volunteer.
The woman had sustained a cardiac arrest and collapsed, and had no significant medical background. Along with the second United Hatzalah EMT, Natah attached a defibrillator and began CPR. In five minutes, the mobile ambulance team arrived, and he was surprised to find that her pulse had returned.
Despite just experiencing a cardiac arrest, the woman showed healthy vital signs and was taken to the hospital.
“I distinctly remember the moment when the paramedic announced the 74-year-old’s vital signs, it was truly a miracle,” said Natan. “That was one of the moments where I could see the lifesaving work that I had just done. On top of that, seeing the 74-year-old’s condition post CPR compared to the 35-year-old’s condition goes to show that anything can surprise you, even when you expect things to go a certain way, they very often don't.”