The State Comptroller of Israel and former judge, Yosef Shapira, visited the main headquarters of United Hatzalah in Jerusalem on Thursday, together with members of his staff and advisors in order to take a closer look at the activities of the organization. In addition to the guided tour and explanation, Shapira met with the leadership of the organization in an effort to discuss a number of the challenges that the organization faces in the coming days.
Founder and President of United Hatzalah Eli Beer, together with the organization’s CEO Moshe Teitelbaum and Israelife Director Eli Pollack, lead the tour. Shapira was shown the new Dispatch and Command Center, which opened this week and possesses cutting-edge technology that is being employed to enable faster EMS response times. Shapira was also provided with in-depth information regarding the activity of the 3,500 volunteers that work with the organization and a breakdown of response times throughout the country and the challenges that each section of the country faces. Beer explained how the organization reacts to mass casualty incidents (MCI’s) including terror attacks, and how the efficiency of Israel’s overall EMS response has increased dramatically over the past few years.
One of the other elements that the State Comptroller was shown was the transparency with which the organization runs. Having recently been awarded the “Middot Certificate for Effectiveness” by the Middot Institute, United Hatzalah is certified as managing its non-profit organization with honesty and integrity according to all of the criteria mandated by the Ministry of Health and the non-affiliated institute. The certificate also testifies that the organization is run with a commitment to building an organizational culture that places a strong importance on development, education, achievement of goals, and continual improvement in the field of EMS care, which they provide free of charge to all citizens of the country regardless of race, religion, gender or background.
Following the visit, Beer said, “ I am proud that the State Comptroller, Mr. Yosef Shapira together with other high ranking members from his office, chose to visit our organization in order to get a better feel for the EMS work that United Hatzalah does and the effort that our volunteers put into saving lives. Over the past 11 years we have created a revolution in EMS response across the country and now have an average response time of less than three minutes. I was pleased to hear his extremely positive reaction to our work and the devotedness that each and every one of our volunteers has towards saving lives.”
