The IDF Home Front Command in partnership with United Hatzalah set up a special project for Yom Kippur that saw dozens of emergency first responders from the EMS organization stay at the Corona hotels over the course of the holiday. The volunteers were stationed at a number of the Corona hotels across the country and were tasked with providing emergency medical care to anyone who required their assistance at the hotels.
Some of the EMS first responders were already “guests” in quarantine at the hotels, while others stayed in “green” sections of the hotels. All of the volunteers were provided with PPE (personal protective equipment) suits so that they could respond to medical emergencies at the hotel. They provided emergency medical care in the “red” sections of the hotel until other help could arrive.
One example of this was United Hatzalah EMT Yossi Refaeli who stayed at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Jerusalem, where 950 Corona patients are residing. Over the course of the holiday, he treated 15 of them who were feeling ill as a result of the fast.
President and Founder of United Hatzalah Eli Beer said: “We have been working in close partnership with the IDF Home Front Command throughout the entire period of Corona. Among the many projects that we have worked on together include transporting people from hospitals to the Corona hotels, and training our EMTs to conduct Corona tests across the country. In preparation for Yom Kippur, during which many people will be staying at the Corona hotels and fasting, we assigned dozens of EMT to be present throughout the holiday at the various hotels in order to provide emergency medical care until transport can be arranged for them to get to the hospital. I am proud of the selflessness of our volunteers in undertaking this project and providing this important service on Yom Kippur.”
Beer continued: “Every year the volunteers of United Hatzalah treats hundreds of sick and injured people over the course of the Yom Kippur. This year, due to the Coronavirus, we added to our mission providing care for hundreds of medical emergencies at Corona Hotels across Israel. This additional activity required a different style of preparation as well as protective gear and training of the volunteers in order to make sure that they were adequately equipped to provide the response that was needed. In a true sign of brotherhood, all of the ambulance shifts from Sunday afternoon and onward in Jerusalem were carried out by Muslim volunteers from east Jerusalem who provided the emergency medical response to residents of the entire city so that the Jewish volunteers could focus on the holiday and on their prayers.”
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