Food distirbution in Ma’alot 2
Medical or Humanitarian & New National Dispatch Center Opened To Treat Humanitarian Emergencies
United Hatzalah volunteer EMT, Shlomo Tausky has been an integral part of the organization’s efforts in the coastal city of Haifa ever since he became a volunteer. Shlomo recently received a new ambucylce from the organization and has already responded to dozens of calls with it. One recent evening, dispatchers alerted Shlomo to a man who had lost control of his car and careened off the edge of a cliff. Without hesitation, Shlomo raced to the scene on his ambucycle and arrived in less than three minutes. The dedicated volunteer assisted the Fire Department’s Special Rescue Unit in extricating the driver from his vehicle. Shlomo and additional United Hatzalah volunteers who had arrived bandaged the 75-year-old man’s wounds and applied a neck brace for C-spine stabilization. The team of medics then immobilized their patient to a backboard and transferred him aboard an ambulance for rapid evacuation to a nearby hospital.
With the COVID-19 pandemic isolating thousands of at-risk Israelis in their homes, United Hatzalah has stepped up in helping coordinate and deliver food packages to elderly citizens and Holocaust survivors. Thus, with the initiation of a new humanitarian initiative by the organization earlier this week, Shlomo and his ambucycle took on an important new role, that of delivery service of essential food, medicines, and essential supplies to those who need it most. In just the first day of this operation, Shlomo and his fellow volunteers in the Haifa region have delivered close to 1,000 packages.
That is just one way in which United Hatzalah and its volunteers are responding to the current pandemic and resultant public health crisis. With COVID-19 cases rising dramatically in Israel and abroad, our volunteer medics continue to put themselves on the line to provide emergency medical care to anyone in need. Israel’s Ministry of Health has taken an aggressive approach in attempting to prevent the virus’ spread in the country and United Hatzalah is doing everything it can to assist in this mission, all the while maintaining our regular emergency medical service activities.
Despite the inherent risks, volunteers like Shlomo are on the frontlines and are united in their dedication to United Hatzalah’s mission to provide prompt, caring and expert emergency medical responses under any circumstances. As an organization, United Hatzalah is committed to taking all necessary protective measures to ensure the health and safety of our medics.
New National Dispatch Center Opened To Treat Humanitarian Emergencies in Israel
1221 Assistance For Everyone Dispatch Center
The Israel Association of Community Centers and Lev Echad have partnered with United Hatzalah of Israel and launched a new national dispatch center managing 30,000 volunteers who will provide assistance to humanitarian emergencies across Israel. The new partnership has given birth to the largest humanitarian aid group currently operating in Israel.
The mission of the new dispatch center and resulting conglomerate, which launched on Wednesday evening, will be to send volunteers to help the elderly, people with disabilities, or those stuck in home isolation as quickly as possible. The initiative, which is being dubbed, “1221 Assistance for All”, will be using technology developed by United Hatzalah to locate the closest volunteers based on the GPS on their phones and alert them to the humanitarian emergency in their proximity. The initiative, which was made possible by financial assistance from the Marius and Inbar Necht Foundation, has received approval and praise from the Minister of Defence Naftali Bennett who promised support from his ministry. The Ministry for Social Equality will also be forwarding requests for help which it receives.
The emergency number for the new dispatch center is the same as United Hatzalah’s regular number of 1221. Humanitarian calls will be immediately routed to dispatchers who received specialized training from all three organizations that focused on catering to the needs of the people who may be calling in. In addition to regular phone calls, dispatchers will be handling calls in sign-language via video chat. The dispatch center will be open between the hours of 8:00 a.m. until 10:00 p.m.six days a week.
All of the volunteers who registered to participate in the initiative have been outfitted with a specialized phone application that will allow the dispatch system to immediately notify the five closest responders to a humanitarian emergency. Dispatchers will also be contacting those closest to the emergency and ask that they respond and provide the assistance needed.
The assistance will include medical aid provided by trained United Hatzalah EMS personnel for those who are injured or sick, prior to the arrival of an ambulance. Logistical assistance in picking up and dropping off medicine, medical supplies, food, and immediate arrival of a volunteer to all those requesting aid. Emotional support for the elderly and those stuck due to Covid-19 regulations including phone support for those stuck in home isolation or quarantine. Lastly, the combined force of volunteers will provide assistance to those with disabilities.
Vice President of Operations of United Hatzalah Dov Maisel explained what prompted the initiative. “During the current crisis taking place in Israel, United Hatzalah volunteers are still responding to medical emergencies across Israel. As an organization that serves the public, we were unable to stay complacent in the face of what we recognized as a rising humanitarian crisis of national proportions. Numerous segments of the population are suffering as a result of the current crisis due to the dramatic shift of lifestyle now being forced upon us all. We decided to mobilize together with our partners and provide a country-wide network of volunteers that will provide aid to the elderly, people with disabilities and others in need of assistance due to isolation. We have revamped our dispatch center in order to use it for the new initiative and opened a completely new center of operations as well as adapting our specialized phone application to incorporate the rest of the volunteers who will be participating in the program.”
General Manager of the Israel Association of Community Centers, Raz Frohlich said: “The Israel Association of Community Centers of Israel, in conjunction with the local and regional councils, manages the largest volunteer system in Israel that numbers close to 30,000 pensioners, adults, and teenagers from all segments of Israeli society. There are more than 1,000 locations that make up the heart of our association that are active both on a regular basis and during emergencies. Together with United Hatzalah and Lev Echad, we will now be providing emergency humanitarian response while strengthening the resiliency of each of these communities during this time of emergency. In addition, we will be focusing on building the community resources necessary for when this situation finally comes to an end.”
Chairman of Lev Echad, Erez Eschel added: “Lev Echad has in the past assisted leading organizations during times of emergency, including Ayalim, HaShomer HaChadash, Pre-Military Academies, to create community coordinators and bridge the gap between the needs of a community and the organizations that are providing assistance. In partnering together with United Hatzalah and the Israel Association of Community Centers, we will work towards providing an emergency humanitarian response to the majority of the needs of the Israeli populace and we will plant the seeds of the foundations needed for after this situation subsides.”
