Delayed in Traffic, EMT is Able to Save His Father’s Life

By COLlive reporter

On Tuesday morning at 7:50 AM, Roi Ido was heading out of his home on Moshe Dayan Street in Kfar Saba in central Israel on his way to work.

Roi, a volunteer of United Hatzalah, was already upset that he was delayed that morning by a few minutes. He found himself stuck in the morning traffic.

While waiting for the congestion to disperse, he received an emergency alert. As he glanced quickly at his device, he immediately recognized the address of the emergency call. It was his own home.

Roi’s 78-year-old father has been ill with terminal heart disease. Both of his parents have been living with him. Roi turned around his vehicle as fast as he could and called his mother to ask what had happened.

She reported that his father had suffered a stroke and collapsed onto the floor minutes after Roi had left the house. Upon arriving, Roi was met by his older brother who was standing outside. The brother urged Roi to run into the house and notified him that two other EMS personnel had just arrived as well.

“I remember the moments driving back to the house,” said Roi. “It’s an EMTs worst nightmare. I remember preparing myself for the CPR I was about to do, CPR on my own father. I decided to keep the emotions aside, since my father’s health is the most important thing and a top priority for me. I knew that I had to clear my head and provide my father with the best care I could offer.”

Roi ran into the house and found his unconscious father with a United Hatzalah paramedic and an additional EMT. The two EMTs began chest compressions and assisted breathing as the paramedic began attaching a defibrillator. After two minutes of chest compressions, the defibrillator did not advise a shock. After two more rounds of compressions, each lasting an additional two minutes, an ambulance crew arrived at the scene and joined the CPR efforts.

When the room became too crowded to work, Roi’s father was moved carefully to the living room while still undergoing compressions. As soon as they put him down, the defibrillator finally advised a shock. After the shock was administered, a mobile intensive care ambulance arrived at the scene and prepared Roi’s father for transport.

Roi told the mobile intensive care unit crew that he was not leaving his father’s side, and insisted on riding with the ambulance to the nearest hospital. On the way to the hospital, the CPR efforts continued, and after a few minutes, the 78-year-old’s pulse returned. On the way into the hospital, Roi’s father began to regain consciousness.

“I still have a hard time processing what happened,” added Roi. “On top of everything, I was due to leave for work earlier in order to beat the traffic that starts because of a nearby school. Only because I was delayed on my way out was I stuck in traffic, and only because of that, I was close enough to return back home and help save my father’s life.”