MDA medic clears sukkah decoration from eight-month-old's throat in Netivot

An eight-month-old baby who choked on a piece of a sukkah decoration at a home in Netivot was treated at the scene by emergency responders, who dislodged the object, according to a statement from Magen David Adom (MDA), Israel's national emergency medical service. MDA said the call reached its 101 dispatch centre for the Negev region at 22:36, and that its medics and paramedics removed the foreign object from the infant's throat.

One of the responders, an MDA medic named Uriel Cohen, gave an account of the rescue to the Israeli broadcaster N12. He said the baby's face was blue when he arrived, that he quickly recognised the situation as choking and began lifesaving procedures, and that a fragment of the decoration then came out of the child's mouth. Within seconds, he said, the baby's colour returned to normal, his condition stabilised and he "did not need to be taken to hospital."

What Magen David Adom is

Magen David Adom, Hebrew for "Red Shield of David," is Israel's national ambulance and emergency medical organisation. It runs the country's emergency medical dispatch service, reached by dialling 101, and operates regional dispatch centres across the country. The Negev region referred to in its statement covers the south of Israel. MDA responders include medics, who are trained emergency medical technicians, and paramedics, who hold a more advanced level of clinical training. MDA regularly publishes short updates on incidents it responds to through its own channels, and Israeli news outlets often relay them within minutes.

Where Netivot is

Netivot is a town in the northern Negev, in southern Israel. The call about the baby was handled by the MDA dispatch centre that serves that area, according to the organisation's statement.

Sukkahs and their decorations

A sukkah is a temporary hut or booth that many Jewish families build outside their homes, on balconies or in courtyards for the festival of Sukkot, which commemorates the shelters used by the Israelites in the desert. Families traditionally eat meals in the sukkah and some sleep in it during the festival. It is common to decorate the interior with hanging ornaments, paper chains, tinsel, artificial fruit and pictures, often made or chosen with children. Many of these items are small and hang within reach. None of the reports describe what kind of decoration was involved in this case.

How the reports compare

All four organisations describe the same basic event: a baby of about eight months choking on a sukkah decoration at a home in Netivot, and MDA personnel clearing the obstruction. A news alert from Ynet gave the child's age as 8 months and carried a short quote saying the baby had been blue. News.co.il reported that the infant was saved by an MDA medic.

There are small differences in emphasis. MDA's own statement credits a team of medics and paramedics and says the object was removed from the baby's throat. The headlines from News.co.il and from MDA itself credit a single medic, and the account given to N12 by Uriel Cohen is told from his own perspective and describes the fragment coming out of the baby's mouth. These accounts are not necessarily in conflict, since several responders may have been present, but the reports do not spell out who did what.

MDA's statement does not mention whether the baby was taken to hospital. The only information on that point comes from the medic's account to N12, in which he said the child did not need to be evacuated.

What the reports do not say

The reports do not identify the baby or the family, and they do not say who placed the emergency call or what, if anything, was done before MDA arrived. They do not describe the specific lifesaving procedures used, how long the baby was without normal breathing, or how long it took responders to reach the home. Apart from the medic's statement that no hospital evacuation was needed, there is no information on any follow-up medical assessment. MDA's statement gives the time the call was received but not the time the incident ended.