Magen David Adom (MDA), Israel’s national paramedic and Red Cross service, arrives first to the scene of medical emergencies more than 91% of the time, an analysis of calls to Israel’s medical emergency call center has shown.
The analysis looked at nine months of calls to 101, Israel’s medical emergency hotline, which were placed between May 21, 2021 and February 22, 2022.
MDA operates the hotline, but will dispatch first responders from all EMS organizations if they’re certified by the Ministry of Health and among the 10 nearest the emergency scene. Calls to other EMS organizations were included in the analysis, as they are required by law to forward the information to MDA.
The analysis revealed that in 73% of all serious medical cases, Magen David Adom ambulances were the first to arrive — not first responders.
Despite reliance on first-responder Medicycles, ambulances are still overwhelmingly the fastest-responding vehicles in most medical emergencies, data proves.
“We deploy about 600 Medicycles and more than 10,000 first responders,” said Eli Bin, MDA’s director-general. “Nevertheless, the findings validate our belief that ambulances — and the paramedics, EMTs, and more extensive lifesaving equipment they carry — are still a crucial link in the chain of survival for seriously injured or ill patients.
“With 1,300 ambulances throughout the country,” Bin added, “it’s perhaps not surprising they get to medical emergencies first more often, especially in areas of the country with less traffic congestion, where ambulances can travel with few impediments.”
MDA ambulances arrive in an average of eight minutes, the study showed.
The analysis also showed that in the 26.9% of the time in which first responders arrived ahead of the ambulance, MDA first responders were first at the scene 68.2% of the time.
“Because many of our first responders are full-time professionals, we can assign them shifts at times when our volunteers are less readily available, ensuring we always have an adequate number of first responders at the ready, whether it’s during traditional working hours or in the middle of the night,” Bin said.
“In addition, because our volunteer first responders are from every segment of Israeli society — Jews, Muslims, Christians, and Druze — they’re able to cover shifts when others are off celebrating religious holidays.”
The overall result is that between incidents in which MDA ambulances arrive first, and incidents in which MDA first responders were first at the scene, MDA arrived first 91.4% of the time.
“It’s not just a matter of arriving first,” Bin added. “It’s also about having a highly trained dispatch staff that captures and conveys crucial information about the emergency, so EMTs arrive to the scene as well-informed as possible.
“The sheer number of EMTs we have is also advantageous, more than 30,000 — including 1,000 paramedics — enabling us to cover every corner of the country faster and with more expertise.
“Every link in the chain of survival is crucial,” he said. “The stronger each link is, the better the outcomes.”
