As part of Defibrillator Awareness Day that will take place tomorrow (Thursday), February 22, this year the Lottery, Magen David Adom and the local government center will hold a national awareness project under the title "Samim Lev – Take Heart.” The project will focus on informing about saving lives through the use of a defibrillator, and as part of it, hundreds of training stations and practicing life-saving scenarios in the event of a cardiac arrest will be deployed throughout the country.
A national awareness campaign was founded, together with the local government center, the Lottery, Magen David Adom and the "Efo Defi?" (Where’s the Defib) app, which began in February 2022 and continues this year as well, with the aim of raising awareness of the existence of defibrillators in the public space and the ease with which any person, even without a prior medical background, can use them in order to save lives.
Tomorrow, MDA will set up about 90 information and training stations throughout the country, where medics and paramedics of Magen David Adom will teach the general public how to take life-saving actions that include the use of an ambulance - in case of cardiac arrest in our immediate vicinity:
- Identification of a cardiac arrest event
- Knowing the location of the nearest defibrillator
- Call MDA's 101 hotline
- Effective and life-saving use of a defibrillator
Training sessions will be carried out by MDA youth volunteers in the high schools where they study in cooperation with the Ministry of Education.
The social enterprise "Samim Lev" was established from the personal story of Lihi Korin - whose father David suffered a cardiac arrest at his workplace and was not connected to a public defibrillator that was near the scene of the incident. The project "Samim Lev" works in collaboration with "Efo Defi?" - a social platform for mapping defibrillators, which includes a mobile app and a website for locating the nearest defibrillator from your computer or phone. The collected information is under an open license and operates in a voluntary, free and non-profit manner. The information is synchronized with MDA's command and control system at the 101 emergency call center.
In 2023, Magen David Adom teams were dispatched to more than 6,000 cases of cardiac arrest and performed resuscitation operations, about 60% of the resuscitations took place in the public space and hundreds of them were connected to devices from the Magen David Adom smart stand by passers-by with telephone guidance from the 101 emergency center. In many cases, the defibrillator was the decisive factor and the patients' hearts started beating again.
For the locations of training and information stations - https://www.mdais.org/news/defibrillator-day-220224
Accountant Avigdor Itzhaki, Chairman of the Lottery: "This is the third year that the Lottery participates in a national project in collaboration with MDA to place resuscitation devices (defibrillators) in the public space, as part of which 600 advanced devices with wireless communication to MDA's 101 emergency call center were deployed throughout the country, outside the Lottery's positions with an investment of approximately 5 million shekels. Access to these stands exists even when the lottery station is closed, and the device has been used more than once and the device has saved numerous lives. The lottery invests all its profits for the Israeli community and society and there is no higher social goal than saving lives. We are happy to continue the tradition of partnership in the social enterprise 'Samim Lev', and together with the local government center, the Israel Cardiology Association, the "Efo Defi?" app, and the rescue organizations in Israel to continue raising awareness of the issue and saving lives in practice.”
MDA Director General Eli Bin: "The defibrillator is a small and simple device that can be used by anyone, even without prior medical knowledge or experience, and can turn a tragedy into a great miracle. In recent years, Magen David Adom has been working together with the Lottery Commission, the local authorities and other partners in order to make the device accessible to every citizen in the country and to increase the knowledge on the subject in order to save lives in the public sphere. To date, we have deployed thousands of defibrillators and we will continue to deploy more and more devices in public places, in residential buildings and throughout the cities, towns and villages for the residents of the State of Israel, alongside thousands of Magen David Adom first-responders, staff and volunteers who travel with defibrillators in their private vehicles or emergency medicycles - in order help and save lives at all times. I would like to thank our partner in the Lottery Commission and the many other partners who work together with us vigorously for the sake of the public and to help save lives. I call on the public to come to the Magen David Adom stands spread across the country on Defibrillator Awareness Day and learn how with the help of a few simple actions you can save lives.”
Photo : Zaki Heler / MADA
