Stories From the Streets: Teacher Keeps Comms Device Close, Saves a Life

Meir Ya’ari is a United Hatzalah volunteer from Bnei Brak. Along with volunteering as a medical first responder, he is a teacher at a school for troubled teens. 

On a recent Wednesday afternoon, Ya’ari was on a trip with his students to the Rishon LeZion beach. As the group unloaded from the bus, one of Ya’ari’s students urged his teacher to leave his communications device in his car, so he could provide undivided attention to his students. Knowing the importance of saving lives, Ya’ari instead put the device in his pocket. At 12:30 p.m. the device began to ring.

In a supermarket on nearby Etzel Street, a 60-year-old worker was feeling unwell, then suddenly collapsed in the middle of the store. Alert bystanders called United Hatzalah Dispatch and Command Center. Ya’ari, who was still at the beach with his students, told the other teachers to watch the children and that he had to leave for a short time. He then rushed to his car and headed for the supermarket.

Ya’ari arrived at the same time as volunteer EMT Eli Rot. The two EMTs located the man and launched into CPR. Rot began chest compressions as Ya’ari attached his defibrillator. The defibrillator advised four shocks, and they were administered between rounds of chest compressions and assisted ventilation. 

After a few minutes the two EMTs were joined by a paramedic. The paramedic assisted with the CPR efforts and was about to administer medications when the man’s pulse suddenly returned. Continuing assisted ventilation on the unconscious patient, the team managed to stabilize his condition just as a mobile intensive care ambulance arrived.

Fifteen minutes after Ya’ari and Rot arrived and initiated CPR, the patient was in stable condition and on his way to the hospital. With the emergency averted and a life saved, Ya’ari returned to the beach, where his students greeted him with open arms.

“One of the most inspiring moments of that day was not the CPR itself but what my student told me when I got back,” said Ya’ari. “The same student who’d asked me to leave my communication device in the car asked me where I had gone for the last 20 minutes. When I explained the situation, he said in simple words, ‘So a man is alive today because the device was in your pocket and not in the car?’ His words were so simple yet so impactful, because he was right, and I will carry these words with me for a long time.”

Raphael Poch is the international media spokesperson for United Hatzalah.