Health Minister Yaakov Litzman endorses a plan to utilize Ichud (United) Hatzalah (UH) volunteers in emergency rooms nationwide to cut waiting time. Litzman’s decision to back the plan is based on a pilot program that has been operating for two years in Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem, Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer Hospital in Tel Aviv and Rambam Medical Center in Haifa.

Litzman has received feedback from medical professionals in the hospitals mentioned and the response is overwhelming in favor of continuing the program. As Litzman puts it, “the program can add thousands of skilled hands to assist” in the nation’s overloaded emergency rooms.

He explains today, the average emergency room visit is 3.5 hours, sometimes more, and having UH personnel assisting in ‘accepting patients’ and running certain diagnostic tests would be most helpful.

Litzman adds the Ministry of Health would develop regulations and guidelines that will serve as operating parameters for the UH personnel should the plan go nationwide.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)