The Jerusalem District Court on Tuesday ruled the Natali private ambulance service will provide medical services to schools. This means Natali will be responsible for providing medical care for approximately 1.5 million students in 4,400 public schools.

The court petition was filed by Magen David Adom, the nation’s primary emergency medical service provider, which lost the tender to schools. The district court vice president, Justice Cheshin, rejected MDA’s petition.

The contract places the responsibility for school medical services in Natali’s hands, between the hours of 7:00am-4:00pm seven days a week for the 4,400 schools. Regarding emergency needs if and when they occur, an EMS ambulance, the current arrangement, to call MDA, remains.

Natali director Yariv Lerner praised the court’s decision, telling the media his firm will now hire 100 employees including nurses, paramedics, and EMTs to join the company’s staff already operating around the country.

The company also plans to set up a state-of-the-art moked dispatch center which will include GPS capabilities, explaining nurses and other paramedical staff with carry GPS enabled phones and specialized software that will enable them to access the central system from around the country.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)