Specially outfitted with distinctive United Hatzalah decals and markings, a siren and flashing lights, and a full supply of medical first aid equipment.
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When every second counts, United Hatzalah is there.
Code Blue. Cardiac arrest. 60-year-old male on the 4th floor. United Hatzalah volunteers arrive within 90 seconds, stabilize the patient, and watch him be transported to the hospital. Then they are ready for the next urgent call.
Code Orange. Mass Casualty incident. Many Casualties. The call goes out to all EMS responders, police and IDF personnel. But United Hatzalah volunteers are the first responders to arrive on the scene.
How do we do it? With the combination of United Hatzalah’s iconic ambucycles, our state-of-the-art communication system, and pioneering GPS technology that enables our volunteers to arrive within minutes of urgent calls – every time.
LIFECOMPASS 2.0 SYSTEM
Thanks to the generosity of the Irving and Cherna Moskowitz Foundation, United Hatzalah was able to launch the Moskowitz LifeCompass 2.0 System in 2007, one of the core pieces of United Hatzalah’s life-saving technology, which allows the organization to dispatch the closest volunteer medics to each urgent medical call.
The LifeCompass 2.0 system draws a virtual perimeter around an incident that has been entered into the system. It then alerts the medics in a predetermined radius to the incident. Each volunteer knows that when the LifeCompass 2.0 alerts him, it is because he is in the immediate vicinity of an incident. Complete GPS guidance to the scene and complete recording capabilities ensure that every incident is responded to and recorded.
Over 3 million urgent calls have been responded to by United Hatzalah volunteers through this technology and millions more will continue to be served and saved. The Moskowitz LifeCompass 2.0 System allows United Hatzalah of Israel’s dispatch center to constantly monitor the location of every United Hatzalah volunteer in the country and to send them out based on four criteria:
Who is closest, geographically, to the scene?
Who has the highest level of training, based on the situation at hand?
Who has the best equipment for this particular urgent call?
How is the volunteer traveling: by foot, car, ambulance, etc?
Bluebird and Rugear Communication Devices:
The mobile technology that powers our Motorola PTT (push-to-talk) devices was phased out a few years ago. Every one of United Hatzalah’s 6,500 volunteers have been outfitted with a pioneering new mobile device – either the Bluebird or the Rugear Communication Device – that accelerates response time, improves data streaming, and allows the resources needed to reach the scene on time, every time.
These advanced features help with full visibility for our dispatch staff, helping them manage the situation as needed:
- Ensures the fastest communication anytime, in any place
- Withstands dust, rain and heat
- They have PTT interface for urgent communication, and automated dispatch integration for fastest response
- They are scratch, shatter and water resistant
- There is also a video interface that allows streaming video from the scene in real time
- The devices are given to our volunteers fully loaded with specialized GPS apps needed for location of the call and of course WAZE to get there.
This model is being adopted in many countries who understand that the community plays a vital role in emergency response, including, but not limited to: India, England, Mexico, USA, Panama, and the Ukraine.
Our Equipment
CHILD RESUSCITATION KITS
Especially designed for children and infants, this bag valve mask manual resuscitator is used when performing life-saving CPR or in cases of severe respiratory distress.
$180
LIFESAVING OXYGEN KIT
Oxygen tanks and regulators are used daily to help revive victims in situations such as shortness of breath and heart failure. This kit breathes new life into all those who need oxygen.
$360
BULLETPROOF VEST & HELMET
Our volunteers respond to missile, bomb and terrorist attacks and must be adequately protected when saving lives. Give them this military-grade bulletproof vest and this battle-proven helmet used by the IDF (Israeli Defense Force) and protect those that protect others.
$800
DEFIBRILLATOR
Save lives by donating a compact life-saving machine - a defibrillator. All United Hatzalah medics need to carry one of these lifesaving devices to be able to restart a heart and give someone another chance at life.
$2,500
MEDICAL KIT
This complete bag, including a Defibrillator and a full array of medical supplies, will accompany and enable our United Hatzalah volunteers in their rescue missions.
$5,000
Train & Equip a New Medic
Outfit 1 medic for 1 year. Afford them the equipment, supplies and refresher training they need to save lives. It's a great investment. Help save a life and you have helped save an entire world!
$10,000
Our Vehicles
EMERGENCY RESPONSE AMBUCYCLE - $36,000
Without doubt, the ambucycle is United Hatzalah’s biggest contribution to first response. Ambucycles are motorcycles used by United Hatzalah’s volunteers throughout Israel to make sure they arrive to the scene within the first few minutes. Ambucycles, due to their size, are not held up by traffic jams or narrow streets, unlike cars and ambulances. Ambucycles have an attached first-aid case that is designed to hold all the necessary medical equipment. No matter where a volunteer is, s/he is always ready to leave whatever s/he is doing, get on his or her ambucycle, turn on the sirens, and race to a call. Thanks to these distinctive motorcycles and United Hatzalah’s unique LifeCompass technology, the average response time of an ambucycle medic is 3 minutes, and in city centers it decreases to 90 seconds. United Hatzalah currently operates around 1,200 Ambucycles.
AMBUCAR - $72,000
The ambucycle is not fitting for every volunteer. The ambucar exists for those who need a form of transportation but do not want to or are unable to ride an ambucycle. United Hatzalah’s fleet of Ambucars – rapid response licensed response cars fitted with sirens and lights – fill the operational gap between ambulances and Ambucycles. This enables our volunteer medics to carry all the medical gear found in an ambulance while going about their daily routine. While Ambucycles facilitate the fast arrival of volunteers to the scene, Ambucars ensure the arrival of professional volunteers such as doctors and nurses, who often prefer cars over motorcycles for their daily commute, to provide advanced life saving treatment until the arrival of an ambulance. With additional seating and storage, Ambucars allow United Hatzalah’s regional directors, MCI coordinators, and dispatch personnel to carry additional equipment, including mobile dispatch cases, search and rescue (SAR) equipment, reserve medical equipment, and command post tents, which facilitate the setup of fully operational command posts and field hospitals at any location.
AMBULANCE - $180,000
United Hatzalah volunteer medics respond within seconds from the onset of any incident. An ambulance is dispatched and races to the scene to help save yet another life. It brings a broad array of emergency medical equipment, medicines, and bandages. Most importantly, it brings a caring and committed team of medics who will treat, stabilize, and transport the patient to the nearest appropriate medical facility.
RESCUE ATV – AMBUTRACTOR - $92,000
Whereas Ambucycles are the key to rapid response in urban environments, there are plenty of places in Israel that cannot be approached by cars or motorcycles; mountain paths and desert roads, among others, are difficult to approach, but emergencies can occur in these places as well. That is why United Hatzalah has 28 Ambutractors stationed around the country and uses them for rescue operations requiring a different, more powerful 4-wheel vehicle to save those in trouble. The ambutractor is a 4 wheel drive made for desert landscape, with a hard shell roof and a front seat that folds down enabling a full size medical cot for transport. The ambutractor is a practical method to respond, treat, and evacuate a missing or injured person. It quickly locates victims in forests, deserts, and rough terrains. The Ambutractor is used in hilly, rocky, and wooded areas where there is rugged terrain, and/or where there are high incidents of search and rescue operations.
RESCUE BOAT – THE KINNERET FLEET - $101,000
United Hatzalah also has a small fleet stationed on Israel’s biggest lake, the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee). While seemingly small and harmless, the Kinneret can become dangerous, especially when swimmers are not paying attention to its tidal waves. United Hatzalah has a Rescue Boat and two jet skis stationed in Tiberias, with a group of local volunteers trained as rescue divers who are qualified to enter the lake to save lives.