[Translated from Hebrew.]

I am a volunteer for the organization “Hatzalah B’Ramah” (Hatzalah Ramat Bet Shemesh).

First, a few words about myself. I am 27 years old, married with 3 children. I live in Ramat Bet Shemesh, Israel and am a volunteer paramedic and ambulance driver. I have been a volunteer for Magen David Adom (“MDA”) for the past 10 years (Hatzalah B’Ramah works in conjunction with MDA). During that time, I have helped thousands of sick and wounded people, many accident and terror victims.

About 5 years ago, I married and moved to Ramat Bet Shemesh. The nearest hospital is about a half hour away. There was no ambulance in Ramat Bet Shemesh and there were hardly any Hatzalah people in the neighborhood. For months, we searched for a donor for an ambulance. Then, along came the Morgenstern family and offered to purchase an ambulance for us in order to memorialize their daughter Nancy H”YD. Thanks in great part to the ambulance, and together with a handful of other dedicated Hatzalah people, we built our organization which now has approximately 50 members, all extremely dedicated professionals and all volunteers, 365 days in the year, day and night.

The ambulance goes on an average of 70 calls per month, including transporting the sick (and treating them on the way) to the hospital, treating accident victims and terror attack victims. In addition, Ramat Bet Shemesh is blessed with many children. To date, 17 healthy babies have been born in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. Through 2003, the ambulance was in service for 15 months and went on approximately 1,200 calls.

I would now like to share a few of my experiences as a paramedic.

1. One morning I was awoken by my beeper. It said a woman is giving birth in a cab on Nachal Hayarkon Street. I hopped into the ambulance and was there within a minute (I was nearby) and delivered a beautiful healthy baby boy. I took care of the baby and the mother and then brought them to the hospital in Jerusalem. I want to point out that if we did not have the ambulance in the neighborhood this story could have very well ended much differently – there could have been a real danger to the baby and the mother in that cab. Later in the day, I received another call that a woman is giving birth – on Nachal Hayarkon Street – the same location as the delivery in the morning! I thought someone was playing a trick on me! I was wrong. She was in advanced stages of delivery. We quickly took her and her husband in the ambulance and rushed her to the hospital in Jerusalem. About half way there, near Abu Ghosh, the other paramedic in the back with her told me to stop at the side of the road, the baby was coming. I stopped and delivered the second beautiful baby boy of the day in the ambulance! The parents were so happy. The father asked me if this was the first baby to be born in the ambulance. I had a real laugh! I told them the last one to be born in the ambulance was a few hours ago right near their house! I told them next time don’t wait so long and get to the hospital earlier. They said no – with such an ambulance and such good service and staff it’s worth it to wait to the last minute and go with the ambulance! If only we would only have to deal with such happy calls.