MDA to launch aerial evacaution service for car accident victims
Ambulance service: Helicopters will save lives of people injured in remote areas of Negev, Golan Heights.
By Yuval Azoulay and Zohar BlumkrantzMagen David Adom (MDA) announced on Sunday it will make available an aerial evacuation service for motorists injured in car accidents starting August.
The joint venture between the ambulance service and Lahak plane company will have three helicopters bearing sophisticated equipment on stand-by 24-hours a day.
MDA have been pushing for an air-borne unit for a number of years, but have been hindered by the high costs estimated at millions of shekels a year.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies-member says the service is necessary in order to evacuate injured people in remote areas as fast as possible.
"Evacuating an injured person south of Dimona, for example, is not easy. Also, the Golan Heights and other northern areas are about an hour and forty minutes drive from large medical establishments like Haifa's Rambam Medical Center," former MDA head Eli Bin told Haaretz.
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Magen David Adom ambulances evaucating people from the scene of a car accident. (Guy Ravitz) |
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When Sharon suffered the stroke at his ranch, they took by him to Jerusalem hospital via road ambulance, which took too long to succeed. Helicopter could have saved him.
BRAVO! BRAVO! WONDERFUL IDEA!!
I agree that air evac is esential but we should also invest in teaching Israelis how to drive. A day does nto go by when I dont see every third driver break the law in at least one way.
I lived in Arizona 8 years ago and this was a already a well established policy to air evac. injured to the hospital. Copters would land on the street or on grass lawns. Many lives were saved. Minutes count. The choppers would land on the roof of the hospital. Here too in the center of the country with our traffic jams, it can be assumed that lives can be saved. We are spending 100s millions of dollars propping up a PA govt. The least we can do for our people is offer the best medical emergency response possible.
How about instead of the Israeli tax payers paying Ex president Katsavs over inflated pension that this money could be used for saving lives in the form of a helicopter rescue service for car crash victims.
I hope they don't charge individuals the cost of air ambulance transport. It can add up to a fortune. The Ministry of Health or the Health Funds had better cover the reimbursement costs for this.