A little after 8:00 on Sunday morning, a 92-year-old woman was riding in a car with her daughter and granddaughter near the train station in Modi’in when she suddenly lost consciousness. Her daughter and granddaughter pulled the car over and called emergency services for help while attempting to perform CPR.
United Hatzalah volunteer EMT Noemie Dray was at home in Modi’in when the emergency happened. She was asleep after a late-night shift in the Pediatric Ward of Sheba Hospital where she works when she isn’t attending classes. Noemie heard the alert on her emergency communications device, got up, and ran out of the house, without changing from her pajamas to street clothes. She jumped into her car and rushed over to the train station where she found another EMT already taking the woman out of the car and laying her down on the ground to have a larger space for performing CPR.
“I was in my pajamas but I jumped right in and began to assist with the CPR,” Noemie recalled. “I arrived together with the mobile intensive care ambulance and quickly opened an IV line as the other EMT was performing compressions.”
Another United Hatzalah volunteer EMT, Shlomi Ben Ami, was on his way to work when he received the alert. “I was driving one of United Hatzalah’s new ambulances that were donated just last week,” Shlomi said. “I flicked on the lights and sirens and rushed over to the scene of the emergency and joined Noemie and the team in their efforts.”
The combined team continued CPR with compressions, assisted ventilation, and administering medication to revive the elderly woman. The relentless team refused to give up on the woman and worked tirelessly to save her life.
“We worked together as a team, each one of us doing their part to help bring this woman back to her daughter and granddaughter,” Noemie related. “After 20 minutes, our efforts were rewarded as the woman’s pulse was restored and she was stabilized enough to be transported to the hospital.”
Noemie concluded: “It is invigorating to wake up and save a life. Even if it means I’ll be tired the rest of the day. Knowing that I helped this woman have another chance at life, another chance at spending more time with her family, this is what I am here to do. This is why I became a volunteer so that I could help others and save lives, and I am very proud that I was able to do that today.”