Magen David Adom (MDA) Youth volunteer Guy Alon on Wednesday morning saved a classmate, who suffered cardiac arrest and fainted during physical education class in their Modi'in school.
Alon, who was with his classmate in the lesson, began performing CPR, including using a defibrillator, until his classmate's heartbeat returned and he regained full consciousness. The classmate was then evacuated in a mobile ICU to Sheba Medical Center.
"While running in gym class, I saw a commotion a few dozen meters from me," Alon recalled. "I immediately went to the scene and saw my classmate lying on the court, unconscious. I performed medical examinations and understood that he had no heartbeat and was not breathing."
"Parallel to calling for a mobile ICU, I began performing CPR on him, accompanied on the phone by the hotline medic. I knew that every second was critical here, and that he needed an electric shock from a defibrillator.
"From my familiarity with the school I study in, I knew that there was a defibrillator machine a few dozen meters away at the entrance to the gym. I connected the defibrillator and administered an electric shock. I continued performing CPR and after a nerve-wracking minute, I felt his pulse return and my classmate regained consciousness," he recounted.
"The simple actions of how to perform CPR and the importance of a defibrillator are something that everyone needs to know," he concluded. "It is the difference between life and death, and thanks to this knowledge, I saved a life today."