Stories From the Streets: Fast-Moving EMTs Save Officer After Stabbing

At 8:10 a.m. on a recent Wednesday morning, United Hatzalah volunteer EMT Amir Rahmani was at his home in Givat Ze’ev when he was alerted to a nearby medical emergency. With no information other than a man was severely injured and the name of a street two blocks down, Rahmani rushed out to his car and drove over. He searched the street until he found a police vehicle parked and an EMT already on the ground next to a severely wounded police officer with a bloody neck.

Rahmani pushed his door open and ran to find a male officer with a stab wound to his neck and a female officer with her weapon out. Realizing that whomever the attacker was, he was not yet neutralized, Rahmani asked the female officer to cover the EMTs as they treated the stab wound. Rahmani then called the United Hatzalah Dispatch and Command Center for immediate backup and an ambulance. 

The EMT at the scene, United Hatzalah volunteer EMT Aharon Eichler, had arrived before Rahmani and begun treating the officer’s bloody wound as Rahmani attached two IVs for additional fluids. The two were able to stabilize the man’s condition until the ambulance arrived. 

“Attaching an IV was the first thing I did,” says Rahmani. “When I saw the amount of blood emanating from the wound, I knew it was a matter of time before the blood loss would be fatal, and he needed an IV immediately. Ironically, I was just teaching a course on attaching an IV last night—who knew that just a few hours later I would be using that same information to open an IV for a police officer to save his life?”

As the officer was loaded into the ambulance, Rahmani and Eichler decided to travel with him to the nearest hospital to ensure his stable condition. After a few minutes the ambulance rendezvoused with a mobile intensive care ambulance carrying three EMTs and a paramedic. When Rahmani saw he was not needed and the patient was safe, he returned to the scene to collect information from the female officer. 

“Considering the dangerous situation and all the parties involved, the man was treated quickly and efficiently,” Rahmani adds. “The cooperation with the police and additional medical personnel was what ensured a swift treatment, and when the officer arrived at the hospital, his condition was stable and easier to treat. When it comes to a medical emergency, we are all working toward the same goal: to save a life.”

Raphael Poch is the international media spokesperson for United Hatzalah.