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Dial 101 To Call an Ambulance in Israel

Israel: Ambulance and Emergency Medical Services

AT-A-GLANCE

DIAL 101 TO CALL AN AMBULANCE IN ISRAEL AND THE PALESTINIAN AUTHORITIES

  • “For such a small country, EMS in Israel is remarkably robust … such a broad range of activities is unusual for a single EMS organization.” (Ellis, 10)Israeli emergency medical services must provide coverage for a multitude of “eventualities”, including:
    • Everyday medical emergencies
    • Multi-casualty incidents (including a prevalence of terrorist attacks)
    • Regional wars
    • International disasters

HOW CAN I CALL AN AMBULANCE IN ISRAEL?

  • Dial 101 for an ambulance in Israel (Magen David Adom) or in the Palestinian territories (Palestine Red Crescent Society)
  • ŸDial 100 for Police
  • Dial 102 for fire department

Yes, dialing 101 will find you an ambulance in Israel and the Palestinian territories.

Other than the Magen David Adom (101), Police (100) and Fire (102), there are private ambulance providers in Israel to provide private transport between facilities, internationally and domestically.

Ground Ambulance in Israel
Air Ambulance in Israel

Magen David Adom is responsible for all disaster response and can be reached by dialing 101.

Yes, prehospital emergency care providers receive lots of training, from basic first aid to advanced life support, and can receive it from both Magen David Adom as well as the Israeli Defense Forces.

In Israel there are, generally speaking, four levels of first responders:

Emergency Medical Technician: Provides basic life support (BLS), including first aid and automatic external defibrillation (AED). Senior EMTs may qualify for a newer training course which teaches them manual defibrillation, to prepare some drugs and assist in endotracheal intubation.

Paramedic: Requires 1.5 years of training and includes advanced life support (ALS), prehospital trauma life support (PHTLS), and pediatric advanced life support (PALS). Options exist for university-style academic paramedic courses which offer a degree upon completion.

Physician: Doctors who work on the ambulance in Israel are typically junior hospital physicians who work for Magen David Adom in addition to their regular job. MDA is seen by some as a “scoop & run” service, requiring little need for physicians, and there are few incentives to attract senior MDs into service. Most MDA physicians come from hospital-based acute specialties

Volunteers: Volunteers form the core of Israel’s prehospital emergency response system, with more than 10,000 who are involved on a full-time or ad hoc basic within MDA. Volunteers are largely involved in multi-casualty incidents, typically following terrorist attacks or during war. Many of them are used as “On-Call First Responders”, most notably through the United Hatzolah service. These responders are equipped with medical/communications equipment and operate from home, responding to incidents within their geographic proximity. Once on-scene, they provide info to advanced providers about patient conditions and the necessity for further resources, and can include doctors as well as off-duty MDA staff.

here are two tiers of emergency transport vehicles used as an ambulance in Israel – basic and advanced.

Basic:

  • Regular ambulance staffed by 2 EMTs, or 1 EMT and 1 volunteer
  • Staff provides basic life support (BLS) skills and transport

Advanced:

  • Mobile Intensive Care Unit (MICU)
    • Staffed by physician, paramedic and EMT/Driver
    • Provides advanced life support (ALS)
    • Usually responds to trauma-related emergencies
  • Intensive Care Ambulance (ICA)
    • Staffed by Paramedic and EMT/Driver
  • Multi-Casualty Response Vehicle (MCRV)
    • Mobilized during prolonged mass-casualty incidents (MCI)
    • Carries a range of equipment, materials and supplies for MCIs

Israel has five hospitals which are equivalent to the US level 1 trauma centers with all specialties on-site. There is a network of other hospitals with variable specialist services between these centers and the prehospital team makes the determination of which hospital a patient is taken to based on their condition and the nearest hospital providing those services.

The charges for an ambulance in Israel are typically paid out-of-pocket by the patient, who then files a claim with their health insurance provider to try and recoup the costs. If certain criteria set by each insurance provider are not met reimbursement can prove difficult.

ADDITIONAL INFO

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), different groups of travelers will require different vaccinations for travel in Israel and the Palestinian territories:

  • All Travelers:
    • Measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine
    • Diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccine
    • Varicella (chickenpox) vaccine
    • Polio vaccine
    • Your yearly flu shot
  • Most Travelers:
    • Hepatitis A
  • Some Travelers:
    • Hepatitis B
    • Rabies
    • Typhoid

Read more about travel in Israel and the Palestinian territories at the CDC website: https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/destinations/traveler/none/israel (Last accessed: Aug. 7, 2017)

Magen David Adom (MDA) was founded in 1930. Initially run as volunteer service with series of regional branches that were managed locally, the regional MDA branches were brought together into one centralized operation organization in the early 1980s. Today MDA is comprised of 11 geographically distinct operational regions and is the sole EMS provider in Israel. MDA also carries out functions of a national organization in disaster and complex emergencies similar to the Red Cross:

  • Provision of medical support to Israel Defense Forces in time of war
  • Resources and management for large-scale national incidents
  • Management of Israeli blood collection and blood product delivery

Magen David Adom (MDA), run under the Ministry of Health, is the sole certifying agency of paramedics and EMTs in Israel. MDA also trains military paramedics who serve in the Israel Defense Forces.

In the Palestinian territories, EMS is delivered by the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS).

Both are accessible by dialing 101 anywhere in the country.

Ellis DY, Sorene E: “Magen David Adom – The EMS in Israel.” Resuscitation 2008;76:5-10

SCOREBOARD

% OF SERIOUSLY INJURED TRANSPORTED BY AMBULANCE

50 – 74%

[Source: 2013 Global Status Report on Road Safety, WHO]

ROAD TRAFFIC INJURY DEATHS
(PER 100,000 POPULATION)

[Source: 2015 Global Status Report on Road Safety, WHO]

REPORTED HOMICIDES
(PER 100,000 POPULATION)

[Source: 2014 Global Status Report on Violence Prevention, WHO-UNDP]

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MAGEN DAVID ADOM ISRAEL

PALESTINIAN RED CRESCENT SOCIETY

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