Last week on Wednesday afternoon, a young teenager fell into an open pit approximately 4-5 meters deep at a construction site near the Kibbutz of Ma’ayan Baruch in the northern Galilee. His uncle called emergency services for help after he was unable to reach his nephew or extricate him from the pit.

United Hatzalah volunteer EMT and chapter head of the Emek HaHula region, Vicki Tiferet, was on her way home from taking care of some errands when she received the alert to the emergency. She quickly changed directions and rushed to the location indicated on her emergency communications device. 

When Vicki arrived, she was the first emergency medical service (EMS) responder at the scene. 

As she waited for Fire and Rescue crews to arrive and assist with the extrication she brought her full complement of medical equipment with her and began to calm the worried uncle. 

“I had no idea what condition the boy was in as we couldn’t see him, so I brought all of my equipment and began setting it up so that I would be able to treat him immediately once he was extricated,” Vicki recounted. “As I am a part of the Psychotrauma and Crisis Response Unit (PCRU), I prepared myself to provide psychological and emotional treatment should that be needed.” 

When the Fire and Rescue Crews extricated the boy from the pit, approximately 30 minutes later, Vicki was the first to look him over and check him for injuries. The boy sustained a twisted ankle and light abrasions but thankfully nothing more serious than that, at least not physically. “Both he and his uncle were really shaken up emotionally,” Vicki said. “The boy sustained some light injuries which I treated but also required some emotional stabilization at the scene before he was transported to the hospital.” 

Vicki concluded by saying: “I am glad that I was in the area and able to respond and help the boy. He needed more than some bandages, and thanks to the training I have both as an EMT and as part of the PCRU I was able to treat him on both levels, the physical and the emotional. This is why I volunteer, so that I can help those in need when they need it. I am thankful that this boy didn’t sustain worse injuries and that he is now healing.”