Once again, Magen David Adom (MDA), the nation’s official emergency medical service (EMS), and Ichud Hatzalah (United Hatzalah/UH) are battling in the media. This time, MDA is slinging accusations at UH. While the latter is not officially the nation’s primary EMS, it has become an integral player in pre-hospital emergency care in Israel, with over 2,000 nationwide volunteers, its own state-of-the art dispatch center, and hundreds and hundreds of scooters, motorcycles, vehicles and other land and sea vehicle responding to calls for assistance. In essence, UH has become irreplaceable, and UH officials and volunteers feel this is at the core of MDA’s anger, “losing its monopoly on pre hospital care”.

On Friday, 10 Shevat 5722, a woman in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Ramot called UH for assistance. She was in labor and wished to get to a hospital to deliver her child.

It should be pointed out that it is increasingly common for frum people to call UH, perhaps the same as people in the frum community phoning Hatzolah in the United States instead of a local EMS, feeling more comfortable with a frum responder. When the first responders arrived on the scene, they were surprised to find the mother-to-be seated on bench outside in the stormy weather, and they quickly realized birth was imminent.

From here there are different versions of the story as you will see.

MDA says that the UH responders on the scene were simply “inexperienced and clueless” as what to do. MDA alleges they did not know what to do, simple as that.

According to a Kikar Shabbat, quoting MDA, the woman was placed supine on the bench covered with her coat and they were beginning to deliver the baby in the cold, without taking the appropriate measures for the mother and infant. There was a blanket but the woman was not properly covered MDA alleges.

A MDA mobile intensive care paramedic unit arrived on the scene after hearing of the problematic birth. The medics report as they arrived they heard the baby had already been born, and they immediately placed the infant into the warm ambulance, pointing out the need to maintain the newborn’s body warmth after birth.

The MDA report continues, explaining they found mom on the bench with her coat and the infant on some type of blanket, uncovered. There were 3 or 4 UH volunteers on the scene, but none of them approached the mom or infant. The MDA medic turned on a flashlight, pointing out it was quite dark, and immediately realized the infant was blue, reports paramedic Shalom Galil.

MDA officials stress Galil realized the umbilical cord was wrapped around the infant’s neck and the UH team was apparently clueless to this. Paramedic Galil removed the cord and the infant began crying. Then he rushed the baby into the warm ambulance and they transported the newborn and mom to Shaare Zedek Medical Center.

MDA stressed that the critical minutes between birth and the time paramedic Galil realized the cord was wrapped around the boy’s neck were critical and the outcome could have been catastrophic, sending a warning to the chareidi tzibur regarding the level of patient care.

The statement emphasizes the importance of calling MDA, not UH, since if MDA was called first the response would have been quicker and the situation could have been avoided.

(It is important to point out that UH operates as first responders and while the organization maintains a number of ambulances, generally speaking, their teams will attempt to treat and stabilize but transport is dependent on MDA).

MDA adds that until the arrival of a physician on the scene, one should not leave one’s home to the street, especially in the winter, since weather conditions play a role. MDA teams will come to a home and if need be, the infant will be brought into the world in one’s home.

NOTE: In Israel, there is a physician on the overwhelming number of paramedic units.

MDA is signaling it may use this case to turn to state officials, citing such a case in which “non professionals” were summoned to respond to a call, and such a case could have result in the death of the infant.

MDA’s medical supervisory officials are hopeful the general public will read this story and arrive at the appropriate conclusions, stressing the issue of time and the need to call MDA first.

Kikar anonymously quotes a “Senior MDA source” as adding, “The chareidi tzibur must understand that this time, it did not end in a fatality but on another day, we may not be so lucky. The rabbonim tell them not to call MDA since UH is supposedly chareidi”.

Needless to say UH officials deny the accuracy of the MDA report, calling the facts as they are presented above ‘baseless’.

UH reports that MDA’s response was unacceptably slow, and while the infant did not cry after coming into the world, the team did evaluate the baby and determined he was breathing. UH explains that the delayed response by the MDA unit may have resulted in the death of the child if not for the immediate response by UH EMTs.

YWN news spoke with a senior UH official who spoke on the condition of anonymity. He stated the following.

1. The father of the baby, an avreich, visited the home of one of the volunteers after returning from the hospital to thank him for the outstanding care for both mom and child.

2. Both mother and child are Baruch Hashem healthy and doing well.

3. The child was breathing when the MDA unit arrived.

4. The MDA response was extremely tardy and the presence of the UH team without a doubt saved the infant.

5. The personnel on the scene from UH, the EMTs accused of being “unprofessional” and “clueless as what to do on the scene” were trained and certified by MDA.

The UH spokesman pointed out that just today, Sunday, February 05, 2012, MK (Yahadut HaTorah) raised the issue of MDA’s billing policies and tactics, its unacceptably high fees and bully tactics in collecting from citizens.

The official added that at the heart of the MDA claims is the fact that UH now has its own emergency number, “1221”, and this signals MDA leaders their long standing monopoly is coming to an end, a reality they do not wish to accept. (MDA’s number is “101”).

MDA fees have just gone up and if one calls for an ambulance, depending on time of day, distance traveled and other factors, one will be charged 349 NIS – 1,846 NIS, quite a steep fee for the average Israeli.

UH does not charge for its services. The organization responds to an average of 600 calls nationwide daily.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)