United Hatzalah
 |
|
| Formation | 2006 |
|---|---|
| Type | free, volunteer-based emergency medical services |
| Legal status | Non-governmental organization, Non-profit organization |
| Focus | Humanitarian |
| Headquarters | Jerusalem, Israel |
|
Area served
|
Israel, Worldwide |
|
Official language
|
Hebrew |
|
President/Founder
|
Eli Beer |
|
Budget
|
US$12 million (2016) |
|
Volunteers
|
2500 |
| Website | israelrescue.org |
| Remarks | Awarded 2011 Israeli Presidential Award for Volunteerism |
United Hatzalah ("united rescue" in Hebrew: איחוד הצלה) is a free, volunteer-based emergency medical services (EMS) organization based in Jerusalem. It is one of many Hatzalah organizations in various parts of the world. Founded in 2006, it is the largest independent, non-profit and fully volunteer EMS organization in Israel, with more than 2,500 emergency medical technicians (EMT), certified first responders, paramedics and doctors dispersed throughout the country. From its LifeCompass Command Center, United Hatzalah uses advanced GPS-based dispatch technology to identify the closest and most qualified volunteers to the scene of an emergency and routes those individuals through a mobile device application. Cadres of trained civilian volunteers throughout Israel create a web of emergency first responders, each outfitted with medically equipped motorcycles (“ambucycles”) capable of reaching victims in as few as 90 seconds. The organization is funded exclusively through private charitable support.
Within Israel, individuals may contact United Hatzalah through its direct emergency number, 1221; however, most dispatch information is received directly from national ambulance services. United Hatzalah in turn alerts and coordinates with local ambulance, Search and Rescue (SAR), fire, and police services, when necessary.
United Hatzalah’s mission is to provide immediate lifesaving medical assistance during the critical window between the onset of an emergency and the arrival of traditional ambulance assistance. Services are provided free of charge without regard to race, religion, or ethnic background. As a designated national security asset by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Home Front Command, United Hatzalah’s LifeCompass Command Center operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. Their ultimate goal is to reduce response time from a previous national average of 8 minutes down to 90 seconds, which is within the critical lifesaving window.
As a young EMT in Jerusalem, Eli Beer recognized that heavy urban traffic and narrow streets often prevented ambulances from arriving in time to save a victim. In response, he organized a volunteer unit of EMTs within his Jerusalem neighborhood. After the Second Lebanon War (Hebrew: מלחמת לבנון השנייה, Milhemet Levanon HaShniya) in 2006, Beer brought together more than 50 separate Hatzalah chapters to form United Hatzalah of Israel. Initially, volunteers responded to less than 200 calls per day by monitoring two-way emergency radio scanners. As cellular technology evolved, volunteers migrated to a managed push-to-talk network, which enabled two-way communications between dispatchers and volunteer medics.
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