Magen David Adom Assists In Developing The First Responders System In Santiago

The Providencia municipality in the Chilean capital has started a pilot project to train municipal security personnel as first responders in medical emergencies, in cooperation with the Emergency Medical Services SAMU R.M. This partnership is part of a series of activities initiated by the Israeli embassy in Santiago, led by the ambassador and his deputy in an effort to support emergency medical services in the Chilean capital. The initiative began after a tragedy that they experienced at the embassy three years ago and is part of the long-standing partnership between SAMU R.M and Magen David Adom in Israel.

Senior MDA officials flew to Chile last week and signed a cooperation agreement between the SAMU.R.M (The Capital Region EMS services) and MDA. As part of this project and in light of the cooperation agreement signed between the Prime Minister of Israel and the President of Chile during his last visit to Israel, a workshop was organized by SAMU who invited service managers throughout Chile, to learn on MDA’s organization of emergency medical services and the way MDA is structured.

The activity ended with a workshop initiated and hosted by the governor of the capital district in her offices in downtown Santiago. The workshop dealt with the experience gained by MDA in organizing and providing medical coverage for large-scale public events, especially those with dignitaries. The meeting was held in anticipation of two major conferences to be held in Chile at the end of the year: APEC (International Conference of Heads of Major Economies in Asia Pacific) and COP25 (UN climate conference).

MDA Director-General, Eli Bin: “Magen David Adom EMTs and paramedics are saving lives every day throughout the country. It is gratifying and exciting to see how, with the unique experience accumulated by the MDA teams in Israel, we can contribute to saving lives around the world. The cooperation with the ambulance service in Santiago is very important for the residents, and we are grateful for the opportunity to help them save lives.”