Fainted? First Aid Will Arrive Within Three Minutes

The Ministry of Health is launching a program aimed at enhancing the availability of emergency medicine, with the goal of "increasing the number of people skilled in performing CPR - and saving lives." This is the first time a program will define and measure evacuation times in the area of pre-hospital emergency first aid.

Fainted at home? Within three minutes, someone with first aid knowledge nearby will arrive. Within five minutes, a responder or medical professional from the emergency medical field will arrive, and an ambulance will arrive within ten minutes.

The ambulance will arrive within 10 minutes, primary assistance will arrive sooner (Photo: Nati Shohat / Flash 90)

This marks the first time the Ministry of Health is acting as a regulator towards first aid organizations, aiming to regulate the field and set standards for waiting times for medics or ambulances. The program will be carried out in several layers, including training all government and local authority employees, estimated at about 100,000 people, in first aid and participating in refresher courses every two years.

In addition, the Ministry of Health is expected to promote legislation regarding the placement of defibrillators for resuscitation during a cardiac event in more locations, and equipping restaurants with EpiPens for treating severe allergic reactions.

Simultaneously, a Magen David Adom (MDA) app, to be launched soon, will allow professionals such as doctors, nurses, paramedics, and more, to register and receive reports about incidents occurring around them. Additionally, another step being examined is connecting all 3,000 defibrillators currently placed in public places to the MDA center, so they can transmit real-time data about resuscitation events and their exact locations.

The main goal of the national program is to significantly increase the number of people skilled in providing basic CPR and saving lives.