The Canceled Call That Saved a Life
Roni Sela is a medical simulation startup entrepreneur and has been involved in emergency first response since age 15. He lives in Herzliya and works in Ra’anana.
Last Friday at 2:16 PM, Roni was in Herzliya when he was alerted to a suspected drowning incident on the Herzliya Pituah coast, about 5 kilometers away. Although not in his immediate vicinity, the seasoned volunteer realized that locating a beachfront incident can take time and that ems personnel with four-wheeled vehicles such as ambulances might get caught in traffic and have difficulty getting to the beach itself. He, therefore, radioed back he was on the way as he hopped on his speedy ambucycle and raced towards the coastline. On his nimble two-wheeled vehicle, Roni whizzed through the midday traffic to reach the area in 7 minutes.
Just as he arrived, United Hatzalah dispatch canceled the call, informing him that the “drowning victim” was actually a large garbage bag floating on the water. The volunteer gave an “all in a day’s work” shrug and was about to head home when dispatch alerted him to a choking incident just down the road from him. Thrusting the gas lever to the max, Roni flew down the street with red lights flashing & sirens blaring, arriving on the scene in just 60 seconds. Grabbing his medical kit, the orange-vested medic sprinted into the steak restaurant, encountering a scene of mayhem with people screaming and crying. Despite the chaos, Roni immediately identified the victim, a middle-aged woman who was blue in the face with wide bulging eyes bespeaking pure terror.
The experienced medic immediately grabbed the woman from behind and performed the Heimlich maneuver, once, twice, three times. Nothing budged. Roni repeated the procedure again and again but to no avail. Time was running out. In a matter of seconds, this woman would lose consciousness and her pulse as well. Again and again, the determined EMT performed the strenuous chest thrusts. Roni felt his strength ebbing but he would not, could not give up. He took a deep breath and with a fresh burst of adrenaline, Roni performed another Heimlich maneuver and another and then it happened. A small piece of meat flew out of her mouth.
The veteran medic rapidly placed an oxygen mask over the 56-year-old woman’s face and delivered high-flow oxygen. Roni assessed that there was still a partial blockage, and he made sure that the woman remained perfectly still, as to not shift the remaining object and re-block the entire airway.
For the next 13 minutes, the medic continued the oxygen therapy and reassured the thoroughly shaken woman, in addition to calming the victim’s sister, who had been completely hysterical. An intensive care ambulance finally arrived and using extra-long forceps, managed to remove the remaining piece of meat from the woman’s airway.
While discussing the call with Roni, he said in a moment of candor, “Everyone was freaking out. It was very stressful, I was there alone and I knew that her life was literally in my hands”. Roni later heard that the woman was fine and due to be released from the hospital within a day or two.
This devoted volunteer has responded to thousands of emergency incidents in his long career, most of them he no longer remembers. However, this is one call he will never forget.
