MDA israel

At the beginning of August, Nissim Nir Raphael (55) started feeling unwell. He went and sat on a bench on the street near his home in Bat Yam, and called MDA's 101 Emergency Call Center. MDA Senior EMT Shmuel Algawi who answered the call, realized that this is an emergency situation, and sent first responders as well as a mobile intensive care unit (MICU). Suddenly, while he was still on the phone, Nissim Nir lost consciousness and collapsed. 

Medicycle EMT Yosef Sasson arrived at the scene mere seconds after Nissim Nir collapsed, identified immediately that he had no pulse and was not breathing, and immediately began CPR, including attaching a defibrillator. He quickly administered an electric shock. After just a few moments, Nissim Nir's heart began beating again. Yosef assisted the MICU team in treating and stabilizing him, and he was then ventilated and conveyed to hospital. After he recovered, he was discharged home, with no neurological damage. 

Last weekend, Nissim Nir and MDA EMT Yosef Sasson met again at the site of his collapse for a moving reunion. 

Nissim Nir Raphael: "I was very excited to meet Yosef, the EMT who saved my life, exactly where I collapsed. I don't know how to thank him. It's incredible to meet the person who gave you your life back. To see his face was very emotional." 

Medicycle Unit EMT Yosef Sasson: "I was on my way home that evening on the MDA medicycle when I received a call to someone who had collapsed. When I arrived I saw that Nissim was unconscious and understood very quickly that this was a cardiac arrest and that every second is vital. I started performing CPR, and thanks to the shock from the defibrillator - Nissim is alive today. To come back to this exact same place today, this time with a siren or flashing lights, and to meet Nissim, is very emotional for me. To see him standing on his own two feet, smiling, and with no neurological damage, gives us - MDA's volunteers - the fuel to carry on and save more lives."