Magen David Adom places defibrillators in cities throughout the country
When it comes to cardiac arrest, every minute is critical. How critical? In every 60 seconds that pass without treatment, the patient's chances of survival decrease by 7-10%. The patient's chances of regaining heart activity increase, when the electrical shock is given closer to the event.
Many lives have already been saved by the MDA's defibrillators, which every citizen can operate easily, even without any medical knowledge. The device provides electric shocks as needed, dictates the resuscitation pace, and provides clear operating instructions. At the same time, the defibrillator connects to MDA's Emergency Dispatch Center, and the citizens on site receive additional instructions from the medics and paramedics. All this helps the MDA teams receive details about the patient before their arrival.
On Monday, June 10th, the first defibrillator stand, placed in the middle of a square, was inaugurated. In case of a cardiac emergency the passersby who call MDA will get information about the nearest defibrillator. This will allow resuscitation to begin before the MDA teams arrive and save the patient's life.
The first defibrillator in this initiative was placed at the Rambam Square in Ramat Gan, in cooperation with MDA, the Ministry of Health, the Municipality of Ramat Gan and JCDecaux, which carried out similar initiatives abroad. The hope is to have many more collaborations like this in additional cities throughout the country. This is in order to have as many defibrillator as possible, so that during a medical emergency the medics and paramedics at MDA's Emergency Dispatch Center, when receiving information about the patient's location, can directed the passersby to the closest defibrillator.
In addition to the defibrillators placed in the citys, MDA is adding defibrillators in smaller communities and crowded places, which are not necessarily obligated by law to have one (such as markets, and outdoor malls).
Deputy Health Minister Yaakov Litzman: "The value of saving lives is of most importance, and the Ministry of Health is working towards shortening response times during emergencies by placing life-saving devices that will be available and accessible to the general public. The placement of a resuscitation device in Ramat Gan constitutes the first step of this initiative. We are working towards placing additional resuscitation devices throughout the State of Israel, which will significantly shorten resuscitation response times".
"Director of first aid and rescue services - Ministry of Health, Miri Cohen: "The placement of a CPR device in the public square is another step in the implementation of the national plan, 'We can all save lives', led by the Ministry of Health, together with Magen David Adom. The national plan was set in place in order to increase the chances of survival in cases of Cardiac arrest. This puts the State of Israel in the forefront of the countries implementing national programs with the intention of save lives".
Ramat Gan Mayor, Carmel Shama Hacohen: "The MDA defibrillator device stationed here is a message to the public, even if only one person's life is saved. There is a great innovation, which in the past could not be done - to keep a valuable device in a public place and yet accessible to the public. We are proud to be the first city in Israel to have a life-saving defibrillator on our streets, and we are already thinking of placements for future devices".
JCDecaux CEO, Mr. Philip Roe: "JCDecaux is proud to provide diverse services to authorities and public bodies around the world and we are proud of the launch of this important initiative in Israel. We thank MDA, the Municipality of Ramat Gan, the Ministry of Health and the many other partners who helped bring this project to light, and we hope that additional Defibrillator devices will be installed in Ramat Gan and in other cities throughout the country, and will help in the saving of lives".
"MDA Director General, Eli Bin: "This is a very special message to the public, with the defibrillator installed here, every person will be able to provide life-saving actions during a medical emergency." Magen David Adom's technology brings medical progress to Ramat Gan, and I hope, in the future, to many other citys. I would like to thank the Ministry of Health, Deputy Health Minister Litzman, the mayor and JCDecaux for their cooperation".
