United Hatzalah volunteer EMT Issac Mougrabi was working his shift at a supermarket in Holon Sunday at 8 AM, and as he was stocking the shelves his communications device alerted him to a nearby medical emergency. A construction worker,58, had been standing on a ladder fixing the ceiling when the workers in the next room heard him fall. The workers found the man unconscious on the floor after sustaining a head injury.
Issac rushed over to his manager and received his permission to run over a few blocks down to the address of the emergency. He ran out of the store, hopped on his ambucycle, and headed down Professor Moshe Schorr street to the given address. He made it to the construction site in 90 seconds and was first at the scene. He grabbed his medical bag and rushed into the building where he found the workers huddled around the unconscious man. Quickly checking his vitals, and finding no pulse, Issac launched into CPR.
As Issac began chest compressions on the man, another United Hatzalah volunteer EMT, Lior Argi, arrived at the scene and joined the effort pulling out his defibrillator. Argi quickly applied the pads, and Issac briefed him on what had happened. It appeared that the worker had suffered a heart attack when he was on the ladder, causing him to fall down head first, hence the head injury.
The defibrillator advised a shock and one was administered between chest compressions. After the shock, Issac returned for another round of compressions as Lior helped with assisted ventilation. After a second shock was given an ambulance arrived at the scene, and the crew opened an IV line for the 58-year-old.
After a few minutes, the man’s pulse returned and Issac stopped the compressions. As the mobile intensive care ambulance arrived at the scene, the man even began breathing on his own. After making sure that the man was in stable condition on his way to the hospital, Issac returned to his shift at the supermarket.
“As I started working at the local grocery store, I informed my manager that if I needed to, I would need the flexibility to leave a shift, in case of an emergency,” Issac explained. “I’m very grateful that I can work in an environment with people who understand that when an emergency occurs, I must get up and go. The emergency was close and because of that I was able to arrive fast, and save the man’s life.”
