About Pinchas Shterling

Pinchas is a school teacher for special needs children, a father of six, and head of the United Hatzalah Yokne’m branch.  His impetus to enter the world of emergency medical response came about due to a tragic incident. His brother-in-law had set out on a day trip with his children and while en route he lost consciousness.Thankfully, the children were not harmed, but their father lay untreated for an extended period and by the time medical help had arrived, he had passed away.  Pinchas was deeply affected by this family tragedy in many ways.  In a life-changing decision, he resolved to become an emergency first responder and give others the desperately needed medical treatment that his brother-in-law unfortunately had not received in time.

Over the years, Pinchas’s dedication to lifesaving permeated his home to the point where his children “live and breathe United Hatzalah from the morning to the evening.” The running joke in the family is that “even though Abba may fill up the gas tank before he goes to sleep, we have no idea how much will be left in the morning.”  One small example of Pinchas’s lifesaving efforts was when he was riding on his ambucycle and suddenly several security personnel from the local municipality waved him down while shouting “Help! Help!”  Pinchas raced in their direction and found a 27 year-old man lying semi-conscious in the street.  The experienced medic quickly took vital signs which revealed dangerously low blood sugar levels. Pinchas immediately administered gluco-gel to raise the man’s blood sugar and carefully monitored his condition.  Within minutes, the sweet gel had the desired effect and the man began coming around.  By the time the ambulance arrived, the man had regained full consciousness and was out of danger.