Adir Nachmani on his ambucycle
Adir Nachmani on his ambucycleUnited Hatzalah

Adir Nachmani is a volunteer EMT for United Hatzalah and works for the southern city of Be’er Sheva.

On Saturday night, close to 6:00 p.m., when Adir was on an ambulance shift around the city, he received a call about a 60-year-old man suffering from a seizure on Yehudah HaLevi street. He rushed over to the man they were referring to that required immediate medical attention. Adir was surprised to see that he was a friend of his from yeshiva.

After the examination, he realized that the man’s seizures were caused by a drug overdose. Adir brought him into the ambulance, covered him with a blanket, and kept his condition steady until the mobile intensive care ambulance arrived a few minutes later. The man was brought to the hospital where he was treated and given the proper medications to counteract the overdose and he was released later that same night.

The very next day, Sunday afternoon, a little after 12:00 p.m., Adir was alerted to an emergency in which a man was lying unconscious on a public bench in the neighborhood. Adir was on his ambucycle, a 60-second drive to the man’s location, and sped off straight away to help.

Upon his arrival, he found the very same man as the one he treated the night before. The man was suffering from yet another drug overdose. However, this time, the man was also unconscious and without a pulse; he had suffered a cardiac arrest.

“The moment that I realized it was the same man as the night before, I felt so disappointed,'' said Adir. “But even more than the feeling of disappointment, I felt pain and incredible sadness that the man could not even last a full day after being released from the hospital before having another overdose, causing a heart attack and seriously endangering his health.”

Despite his frustration, Adir lowered the man from the bench carefully onto the floor. He immediately began treatment, determined to resuscitate his old friend. Adir performed CPR on the man until the mobile intensive care ambulance arrived a few minutes later.

The paramedic helped Adir lay the patient onto a stretcher and transfer him into the ambulance, where they continued performing CPR until his pulse and breathing finally returned after ten minutes. The man was admitted to the Soroka Medical Center for further care.

After the incident, Adir said, “This man was very lucky to have been saved twice within 24 hours, and I hope he recovers soon and lives out his renewed life to its fullest. I hope his condition improves and he succeeds in winning the battle against the drug addiction.”