Stories From the Streets: All in the Family

On a recent Wednesday afternoon, United Hatzalah volunteer EMT Yitzchak Levinger received an alert to a serious accident on Keren HaYesod Street in Beit Shemesh, right near his location. He immediately dashed to his ambucycle and raced over to the scene. His brother, who lives a few streets over and is also a United Hatzalah ambucycle volunteer, arrived at the location as well.

The brothers found a 60-year-old man sprawled on the asphalt. He had been walking at a crosswalk when he was struck by an electric scooter. The man had suffered a powerful blow to his head and was bleeding massively. The duo worked quickly to stem the potentially fatal blood flow. They applied pressure and secured the wound with trauma bandages, and soon the injury site was neatly covered with white dressing. Levinger and his brother then took the man’s vital signs, performed an on-site neurological assessment, and affixed a neck brace.

The duo stayed on scene to monitor and reassure the victim as they waited for an ambulance. Finally one arrived, 30 minutes after the initial call. The man was swiftly placed on a backboard and whisked off to the hospital for emergency treatment.

“I had just finished responding to a different emergency where a young man had fallen off a building and needed CPR. After regaining a pulse there, I received the alert and rushed over to this emergency,” Levinger recalls. “I met my brother Avraham at the scene, and we treated the man together.

“For me it is always special to meet one of my brothers at an emergency. I have been a volunteer with United Hatzalah for over 10 years, and both of my brothers joined in the past few years. Yisrael, our third brother, wasn’t at this call, but we have had times where we all get together for family meals and need to rush out to deal with an emergency in the neighborhood, as our parents live in Beit Shemesh as well.” 

Levinger adds that having been previously injured in an accident, he empathizes with those in similar situations.

“It’s sometimes hard to respond to calls,” he says. “I suffered a slipped disc a year ago following a motor vehicle accident, and I am often in significant pain. That doesn’t stop me from responding, though. There’s not much that can be done to alleviate my pain, but how can I leave someone else hurting when I can help them? I’m grateful I am able to be on the side of the giving and that I have the tools and ability to reach out to people, treat their wounds, and make a difference.”

Raphael Poch is the international media spokesperson for United Hatzalah, Israel’s national volunteer EMS organization.