Cell Phone Crisis in Ramat Bet Shemesh: “I Held My Son’s Amputated Finger And There Was No Reception”

Ramat Beit Shemesh is suffering from a lack of cellular phone reception and the situation is bordering on life-threatening, residents say.

A resident related, “My son’s finger was cut off. I called Hatzolah but I was unable to complete the call due to a lack of reception.

Ramat Beit Shemesh is considered one of the fastest developing religious neighborhoods in Eretz Yisroel, but it is impossible to ignore the distressing issue of poor cell phone reception throughout the city,

The harsh reality is that tens of thousands of residents living throughout the city of Beit Shemesh are prevented from receiving and making calls due to the pathetic reception.

Beyond the daily inconvenience caused to the residents, it is a real danger to life due to the fact that in an emergency, it is impossible to contact emergency personnel.

It turns out that this is not a theoretical matter, “It is a nightmare for every parent, which unfortunately happened in my home,” Yossi Dushinsky, a resident of Beit Shemesh, related.

The incident happened almost two months ago on Friday at Yossi’s house when one of his children’s fingers got cut off.

“It was about two hours before the start of Shabbos. I was in the middle of preparations when suddenly I hears screams of terror. I arrived in the living room and saw that everything was covered in blood, this after my two-year-old son Tzviki’s finger was cut off after getting caught in the balcony door.”

Yossi says that he immediately called Magen David Adom, but encountered a message of “not registered on the network.” “I called MDA while holding my son Tzviki’s finger, but I was unable to complete the call due to a lack of reception. Everything around me was full blood and I had no way to help my child! It was terrible,” Yossi recounts.

“I went into hysteria. I really didn’t know what to do. It was a difficult and shocking experience. I tried to call again and again for several minutes, to no avail. I knocked on one of the neighbor’s doors, and miraculously, I found someone who began to take care of the child. At the same time, I went down the stairwell and left the building, trying to find a sliver of reception to call MDA, but that didn’t help either.

“I found myself walking outside with a cell phone in my hand while my two-year-old Tzviki was bleeding and moaning in pain,” Yossi said through tears.

He was only able to make a phone call after walking about forty meters away, and even then with difficulty, as the conversation he had with Magen David Adom was interrupted and unclear due to the poor reception.

Yossi concludes that it took him over a quarter of an hour from the beginning of the incident until he was able to call MDA.

“It’s a serious thing,” Yossi says. “What would happen if someone needed CPR or, God forbid, in the event of suffocation? 15 minutes is a matter of life and death!”

Another resident, Miriam, has a child on a ventilator, and in the middle of Shabbos, the ventilator broke down. It took them no less than 20 minutes before the phone started working and the emergency personnel were able to hear them properly.

Miriam is furious and points out that in such cases, “every minute is important.” Miraculously, her son’s condition “did not deteriorate too much,” she says.

The Beit Shemesh municipality has responded that “the municipality has established 10 locations for the construction of new antennas in the city. Each antenna will service all the cell phone companies. At the moment, the cellular companies have to apply for a permit for construction. Some residents of the neighborhood have objections that will enter the discussion.”

{Matzav.com Israel}