12-year-old suffers cardiac arrest fleeing to shelter

2026-03-26 - 12:24

A rocket alert sounded Thursday morning in Tzfat in northern Israel, with reports of a projectile landing in an open area near a public space. As residents scrambled for shelter, a 12-year-old girl collapsed on her way to a protected room and went into cardiac arrest – her heart stopped beating. At 6:16 a.m., Magen David Adom crews were dispatched to the scene. Paramedics and medics administered life-saving medical treatment and performed CPR until her condition stabilized and her heart resumed beating. She was then evacuated to the hospital in serious but stable condition, sedated and on a ventilator.  Video: A scene of a strike on Tzfat (Archives) Rivka Tuito, a United Hatzalah (a volunteer emergency response organization) medic who was the first to arrive and begin resuscitation, recounted, "We were told that during the siren she fell out of her bed when she tried to get down quickly and make it to the protected room. We performed CPR, administering two electric shocks from a United Hatzalah defibrillator. After her heart miraculously resumed beating, she was evacuated to the hospital – at this stage her condition is defined as serious but stable." Shneor Beytsh, an emergency medical technician with Magen David Adom who lives directly across the hall, said, "During the siren, I got a notification on the Magen David Adom app about a girl who had gone into cardiac arrest. I immediately realized it was the building I live in. I ran straight to the apartment, and they led me to the room, where I found a girl unconscious, with no pulse and no breathing. I quickly began CPR, which included chest compressions, rescue breaths, and electric shocks from the defibrillator, and within minutes an intensive-care team from Magen David Adom arrived and continued treatment until her heart resumed beating."