When 4-year-old Romi began choking at lunch, Zohar Azoulay, an aide in Romi’s preschool class, took action and saved her life.
“It was a stressful situation, but I knew there was no choice and I had to act calmly and professionally,” says Zohar. “Thanks to the training I went through at MDA, I was able to prevent a tragedy.”
During a normal lunchtime, Romi began choking on her schnitzel. Zohar ran over to her and Romi signaled she was having trouble breathing.
“We immediately called Magen David Adom and I started performing the Heimlich maneuver, as I learned in the course I finished at MDA last week. I am very happy that I was able to save her life and I understand today the importance of the knowledge gained in the MDA first-aid course.”
The food was dislodged and Romi began to breathe and talk normally. Thanks to Zohar, when the EMTs arrived, there was nothing for them to do. “There is no doubt that Zohar is the heroine of the day,” says EMT Yosef Smadja. “I call on all citizens to take a first-aid course at MDA — it just saves lives.”
“The emergency in the preschool could easily have ended in tragedy, but thanks to the knowledge that Zohar acquired in MDA’s first-aid course, it saved Romi’s life,” says Eli Bin, director-general of MDA.
“Knowledge is power, and in this case, it turned what could have been a disaster into a miracle.”
