Yesterday I had a crazy shift, and it was on shabbat which I didn't expect there to be so many crazy calls.
I was on a morning shift from 7am to 3pm and instead of being at the main station, my driver (Moshiko) and I went to the most religious part of Ramat Gan. The strange part was that our "station" was at the bottom of a broken down building. It used to be a four story complex, but now it is just in shambles with the "station", basically a room with a couch, TV, and two beds, and that was where we were told to be. Hopefully I am stationed there again so I can take a picture of the place. Luckily we weren't there for more than an hour when we received our first call.
All I could hear on the radio that it was an emergency, but I wasn't sure why. When we arrived on the scene, the driver told me to get the stretcher, ambu bag, and the "birth kit". When I heard that my eyes went wide. Several friends that I know have been on an ambulance when a woman gave birth and I didn't have any real desire to join them. She was having contractions all the way to the hospital, and if we had arrived ten minutes later I don't think we would have made it to a hospital. The transport to the hospital was ridiculously fast. I have never been an ambulance tranporting to the hospital with sirens that quickly. The woman wasn't too comfortable and was screaming very loudly by then. Arrived to the hospital and brought her in and then left to let the hospital staff work its magic.
As we were driving back from the hospital we were called on the radio that there was a bomb threat literally thirthy seconds away from where we were. So we were able to get there in a matter of seconds. The scene: we were in a very relgious neighborhood so there were a bunch of bystanders of orthodox standing on either sides of the this 40 yard long street. There were two police vans, one blocking each side of the street. The bomb was said to be inside a building and there were about 6 or 7 policemen running in and out and keeping bystanders away. In addition, there was a buildup of cars not and the drivers didn't know why there was a stoppage so naturally there was also a lot of honking. Luckily there wasn't a bomb there, but I did learn a lot about myself in those minutes waiting to see what would happen.
During my training, we discuss about what to do if there was a terrorist attack and how to be effective in those type of situations. We also had a discussion about if you would go in to a place where a bomb went off only minutes before. We are apart of the Emergency Response Team and terrorists will place a second bomb to go off thirty minutes or hours later to kill EMS, police, or anyone else who arrived to help on scene. As I was waiting and envisioning a sight that would just be utter chaos, I came to realize that I would be ready to go in an help. Although the dangers would be eminent, it's my job to help. That may sound obvious, but if you think about it, truly wonder what you would do, it's a really tough question. It's one of those questions that I still don't fully know, but being in that moment and almost witnessing an attack I was able to feel the adrenaline and fear that would be natural to feel during this bomb threat. It was a very rewarding experience being there, but I hope to never be faced with a situation like that again.
The third call came right as we were leaving the potential bomb threat, and I couldn't catch what they said on the radio, but in hindsight I now know why Moshiko drove insanely fast. At the same time that we arrived on scene, four separate motorbike MDA first responders arrived. Now I was really confused because Moshiko couldn't explain to me that it was a suicide attempt. I didn't learn this until we left the scene an hour later.
An orthodox man met us at the apartment complex and brought us to the patient's door right next to the apartment parking lot. We knocked on the door of the man and he only peaked through the door and told us to go away and that he didn't need our help. The first responders and Moshiko were persistant to talking with him, and at that moment I didn't understand why. Next thing I know, two policemen arrive and then I start to think that this guy is a criminal of some sorts. The police basically force their way into the house and the ambulance personal were left to wait outside the room. Twenty minutes past and everyone is talking to each other about what is happening, and of course I can't understand when people speak Hebrew at ridiculous speeds, so I sort of just tried to catch a word or two. Another ten minutes go bye and my driver tells me that we are leaving. We get back in the ambulance and the dispatcher tells us that we now need to wait for the police to get out.
We walk back to the parking lot, and by this time there were around 10-15 kids waiting outside trying to see what was happening. Two seconds later, the door to the room is thrown open and the man whom we saw earlier stumbles out gasping for air, his eyes blood shot and barely open, and the yellow/gross spray color all around his face and neck. Pepper spray: successful. The man is about forty years old, orthodox, and has a bunch of mucus and think saliva profusely coming out of his mouth. The police hand cuff him, but he is able to stumble away for a couple of seconds then is forced to sit down. I have NEVER seen anything like that in my life, and I didn't know that pepper spray was that intense! He was going crazy, and started to yell in Hebrew "It hurts, it hurts!" Duh. It was funny though when he first came out of the room how fast the kids watching bolted away.
The police were struggling with keeping him under control. but right before they put him in the police car, they gave him his kippah (or yamakah) and this would only happen in Israel. Gotta love it.
My interpretation of what was happening before Moshiko explained to me what actually was happening, was that he was a criminal and someone called him in as being sick or something. But he was actually trying to commit suicide by turning on the gas in his house and someone smelled it from outside.
So that was my Friday shift, insane and I learned a lot. I can't believe I had all of those calls in one day and right after each other, but it was fun.
Till my next post,
Yalla Bye
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