Scene of the near-drowning
Scene of the near-drowningMDA spokesperson

A 12-year-old boy is in critical condition Monday afternoon after he nearly drowned in a pool of water at the Ein Prat nature reserve, northeast of Jerusalem.

The boy, a member of the local Bedouin community, was found unconscious in the water Monday. Emergency first responders from United Hatzalah and MDA were called to the scene, and performed emergency resuscitation techniques. Paramedics managed to resuscitate the child, restoring his pulse.

Emergency medical teams then evacuated the boy via an IDF helicopter to Hadassah Hospital on Mount Scopus in Jerusalem for treatment.

“The boy was pulled from the water unconscious,” a spokesman for United Hatzalah said. “He was not breathing and had no pulse. United Hatzalah volunteers who were dispatched to the scene arrived and began to perform CPR on the boy.”

United Hatzalah volunteer EMTs Elchanan Kobani and Yishai Sharbaf who performed CPR said: "Together with other medical volunteers from United Hatzalah and IDF medical personnel, we performed CPR on the child and he regained a pulse. He was then evacuated by a military helicopter to Hadassah Har Hatzofim hospital in Jerusalem in critical condition."