United Hatzalah has teamed up with Nurofen for Children and set a goal to train 500 parents and residents of Beit Shemesh in providing basic first aid to their families and neighbors in case of a medical emergency. The two organizations began a similar initiative in Sderot recently.
The first aid course covers the basics of how to perform CPR, how to treat someone who is choking and how to deal with burns and other household injuries. The course is geared towards parents as well as teachers but is open to the entire community.
The initiative started in Beit Shemesh following an incident last month in which Chen Danzinger, a teacher in her ninth month of pregnancy, suddenly collapsed from cardiac arrest in the school in which she teaches. On Monday, Chen returned to the school which held a celebration in her honor. Beit Shemesh Mayor Aliza Bloch, as well as other high ranking officials in the city and the United Hatzalah volunteers who assisted in saving Chen’s life, took part in the event.
President and Founder of United Hatzalah Eli Beer said: “The story of Chen’s resuscitation moved us all and showed us just how important it is for everyone to know CPR and first aid. When it comes to medical emergencies, every second counts. It is for this reason that we take upon ourselves the task of training thousands of people in basic first aid response. We know that this training results in lives being saved. By making sure that more people in Beit Shemesh know what to do if someone God forbid gets hurt or is suddenly ill, will safeguard the residents of the city and save lives, the same way that Chen was saved due to the early intervention of people who saw what happened and immediately took action.”
Beer added, “I wish to thank the Reckitt Benckiser corporation in Israel, the company in charge of Nurofen for Children, who has been assisting us for the past six years in providing family safety courses across Israel and training tens-of-thousands of citizens as part of the joint project that we have.”
Guy Yannai, CEO of Reckitt Benckiser in Israel said: “We recognize the Family Safety project as a flagship program whose goal it is to train thousands of citizens each year in providing life-saving first aid in cases of emergencies and drastically reducing the response time of receiving medical intervention before emergency services can arrive at the scene. We will continue to invest in the power of the community and this year we have chosen to invest strongly in the residents of the city of Sderot. We look forward to continuing our partnership with United Hatzalah for many years to come. Over the previous years of collaboration, we have been fortunate to work with an amazing volunteer organization made up of thousands of dedicated men and women each of whom has inspired us.”
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