PHOTOS: This Year We All Go Back To School Safely

(PHOTOS IN EXTENDED ARTICLE)

Drowning incidents, traffic accidents and other unfortunate cases R”L were not rare to summer vacation in Israel. The beginning of the school year is right around the corner and hundreds of thousands of students will go back to school come September 1st. MDA is reminding the tzibur of its safety guidelines to prevent additional tragedies from occurring.

MDA teams have been briefed to remain especially alert due to the many children who will be commuting to school, and remain prepared to tend to any medical emergency that may arise. Additionally, ambulance drivers have been instructed to drive cautiously near educational institutions and crosswalks. MDA has established a dispatch center designated for educational institutes. Dispatchers operating the center are also prepared for the beginning of the school year – thousands of EMTs and paramedics trained to provide preliminary medical treatment during school hours in cases of injuries in children from age 3 as well as teens in the dozens of thousands of educational institutes throughout Israel.

With students returning to the school year and parents returning to their regular work hours, schedules and drop-off hours may shift. These shifts, as we’ve seen in previous unfortunate cases, may lead to forgetting infants in vehicles. MDA calls the public to take all safety measure necessary to ensure the safety of children and prevent more tragic cases. MDA recommends parents place bags and cellphone near children’s car seats in order to obligate parents to reach the backseat before leaving their cars.

Following are MDA safety guidelines:

Educational institutions and drop-off stations are kindly asked to remain especially alert. Children tend to burst into the road and due their short height may escape the driver’s view field. Drivers are required to slow down near crosswalks and even make a full stop when a pedestrian seems to be nearing the road.
Parents should provide their children with sufficient food and beverage for the school day. For the time being, they should also provide them with extra water due to the hot summer days. It is important to teach children to drink often and use sun protection during recess.
MDA reinforces the public to pay attention to parked vehicles to locate infants that may have been left inside. If you’ve identified a child in a parked, locked vehicle, call MDA immediately by dialing 101 and adhere to the instructions of the EMTs and paramedics at the dispatch center until the arrival of MDA teams to the scene. School bus/van drivers are required to scan their vehicles and ensure that after dropping off all passengers, the vehicle remains empty – also ensure all children use safety belts and are seated in seats secured and adapted to their age and weight.
Parents, please walk your children through the safest path to get to school and ensure that they know how to cross the road on their own. Remember, a child under the age of 9 needs adult supervision on the way to and from school.
MDA is asking parents driving children to school to drop them off at appropriate stations and ensure that they cross the road safely.
If you are involved in a car accident or witness one, immediately call MDA’s dispatch center at the 101 emergency line or by using the “My MDA” app, and adhere to the instructions of EMTs and paramedics at the dispatch center.

Remember, with every call to MDA’s 101 emergency line, emergency response will begin within a few seconds, as the initial treatment is conducted through over-the-phone instructions provided by the EMTs and paramedics at the dispatch center. The dispatchers are able to assist the caller in the initial moments prior to the arrival of MDA teams to the scene.

Simultaneously, MDA teams are dispatched to the scene, and additionally, standby First Responders called “Life Guardians” who are near the scene of the emergency, are called immediately. At your service is also MDA’s mobile app called “My MDA”, available on both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. The app enables users to transfer medical information securely and instantly to MDA teams at a time of need, share your precise location with the teams on their way to the scene, and streamline emergency response as much as possible.