This mother of five, on the cusp of giving birth to number six, rushed to save the life of a stranger’s child.
By Raphael Poch, International Media Spokesperson, United Hatzalah
Last Friday, at approximately 1:30 a.m., two young people were reported electrocuted in a pool. One of the young men was pulled out of the pool unconscious. He was not breathing and had no pulse or signs of life.
A second young man, who had jumped into the pool to save his friend was also electrocuted and was in moderate condition.
It was suspected that there was an exposed electrical cable inside the pool somewhere. The first emergency medical responders on the scene were United Hatzalah volunteers Yossi and Oshrat Mualem from Givat Ze’ev, proud parents of five, who are just about to have their sixth child as Oshrat is 9-months pregnant.
“We happened to be at a family celebration one road over from where the incident took place,” said Oshrat. “We were notified about the emergency by United Hatzalah’s Dispatch and Command Center and rushed out to treat the young man. When we arrived we found that his friends already took his shirt off and prepped him for CPR. We approached the patient and I began doing compressions. My husband began airway ventilation. As we were performing CPR the ambulance arrived and joined in our efforts.”
Once the first patient was put in the ambulance, while still undergoing CPR, Oshrat went to another man who was suffering from emotional shock and began calming and treating him.
“I’m still new at this but my husband has been doing it for years,” Oshrat added. “To me, it doesn’t matter whether I’m nine months pregnant or not if I can help save a life I will,” she declared.
Oshrat is the vice president of marketing at Radio Kol Baramah and has been for the past decade. Her husband is a teacher and a member of the local council in Givat Ze’ev.
“I joined the women’s unit of United Hatzalah because I felt it was the right thing for me to do. In spite of my being in the women’s unit,” which primarily sends women to help treat other women suffering a medical emergency, “I respond regularly to all emergencies that occur in my vicinity, and often I respond to emergencies with my husband. We recently performed CPR on a Palestinian woman at the Shaufat checkpoint,” she added.
“The whole idea of saving lives and United Hatzalah really speaks to me,” Oshrat said. “Our children receive a very strong message with regards to the value of saving a life as they see us responding together. We don’t see this as coming at the expense of our children, but rather as an educational tool to help teach them and show them what we believe is important. Even though I am nine months pregnant I never for a moment hesitated to rush over and begin compressions because that is what needed to be done. I have received so many people reaching out to thank me for what we have done, both in this instance as well as previous ones that it really warms my heart and gives me all the reason I need to keep rushing out to help others when they need it. I am thankful that I got the opportunity to be part of the team that saved a life on Friday.”