The AIPAC conference in Washington DC on Sunday recognized the Israeli organization United Hatzalah for its ground-breaking work in revolutionizing emergency medical care.
Eli Beer, CEO of United Hatzalah, spoke at the conference about his organization's unique approach, by which it trains regular people from all walks of life to be able to serve as EMTs (emergency medical technicians) so they can save lives immediately without waiting for ambulances.
He pointed out that through the integration of a smartphone application to notify volunteers, the group has reached a response time of three minutes, as opposed to a time of eight to 12 minutes for a regular ambulance.
Last year the organization treated 245,000 people, of them 25% in life-threatening situations.