Israeli First-Responder on Bicycle Honored for Running to Save 2500 Lives

The city of Ramat Hasharon honored a 25-year-old emergency medical technician for responding to over 2500 emergency calls over four years.

Meir Farkash, 25, is known to be the pinnacle lifesaver of Ramat Hasharon, an upscale city in the Tel Aviv district. For the past four years, during which Farkash has been a United Hatzalah volunteer emergency medical technician (EMT), he has responded to more than 2500 emergency calls, many of them life-threatening. Even more impressive is that Farkash has responded to all of these calls on his personal bicycle.

In honor of his continued dedication to saving lives, United Hatzalah has given the active volunteer a first response e-bicycle that was donated to the organization for him by the residents of the city to honor the selfless volunteer.

Farkash, a student in the city’s yeshivat hesder – a post-high school institution that combines rabbinical studies with IDF service – has become somewhat of a local celebrity in Ramat Hasharon. The image of him pedaling through the streets in order to rush to a scene and save someone’s life is an image that many residents have come to know and support.

“Today there are lots of people who say hello to me as I pass them on my bicycle. I say hello back. I have come to know many residents, and they know me, through the EMS activities that I undertake and the calls that I respond to,” said Farkash.

‘It’s Not About the Glory’

The day before Farkash received the bicycle, he saved another life. He was dispatched to the car of a known lawyer in the city who had lost consciousness while with his family. Farkash, who arrived in just moments with his bicycle, began CPR and helped resuscitate the man with the Intensive Care ambulance team that rushed the scene. Farkash joined the ambulance team in transporting the patient to the hospital, and the man was released a few days later, alive and well enough to go home.

When asked if he knew the total number of lives he has saved, Farkash said, “I have never really thought about it. Now that you mention it, it gives me a really good feeling. Truth be told, even calls that are more general and do not involve a life being saved per se, they too give me and other volunteers a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction knowing that we helped somebody who needed us. In every case we respond to, you meet a person who is incapable of helping themselves at that moment. You help them, you comfort them and you make sure they receive the best care that they can. That is the job of being a first responder. It’s not about the glory, it’s about helping people.”

By: Mark Tainar