About Yisrael Trakeniski

Yisrael grew up in Russia, emigrating to the United States as a teenager. From there he made Aliyah to Israel and served in the IDF. Yisrael works as a banker but his real passion lies in his other work as a diving instructor. Yisrael has taught diving for many years and several years ago he saw that some of his students were United Hatzalah volunteers. They suggested that he join the organization. Already an EMT, he popped into the United Hatzalah offices, applied to be a volunteer, and within a couple of weeks became a proud part of the organization. Yisrael has now been volunteering for over 7 years.

One of his favorite stories took place a couple of years ago when he and his family packed off to go to the marina for lunch. Yisrael put his rescue kit into the car trunk, and his son laughed that it really wasn’t necessary to schlep it along. Knowing the emergencies can always happen when you least expect it, Yisrael left it in and the family drove off the marina. They had just finished lunch and were about to head home when Yisrael received an alert that someone was in danger in the sea. His son, who is part of a special forces unit in the IDF, grabbed his father’s rescue kit and the two rushed off to the scene.

Police had just pulled the man out of the water, coughing, and sputtering. Thankfully, he was conscious and breathing. Yisrael son’s immediately recognized him as a soldier who was with him in basic training! The young man was in a wetsuit and his lips were blue. Yisrael quickly realized that the man was suffering from hypothermia and he rapidly took off the soaking wetsuit while his son fetched a coat from the car. Yisrael then gave the man a hot drink and was happy to see that his body temperature was starting to rise. Finally, an ambulance arrived and the young man was taken to the hospital for further check-up.

The young man continues to call Yisrael and his son his ‘saviors’.