Supporting both patients and Magen David Adom, UH has become an integral part of the Israeli cultural fabric. A lifesaving group of more than 8,000 unpaid volunteers, including Jews, Arabs, Druze and Christians, treat everyone and anyone in need, without charging a penny.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n After a six-month training period and on-call internship, volunteers use an app that geo-locates their proximity to a medical emergency. When someone calls one of Israel\u2019s three emergency numbers for help (instead of one number, 911, for all emergencies, Israel has different numbers for medical, fire or police) United Hatzalah\u2019s system immediately locates the nearest five volunteers. It pings their app, and they can be on site in three minutes with a fully stocked medic bag. The paramedic volunteer stabilizes the\u00a0<\/span>patient, performs life-saving first-aid if needed, and remains until an ambulance arrives.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not just about the person who is not well or injured,\u201d explained Attias. \u201cEveryone surrounding them feels calm and safe knowing someone is handling the situation. When the ambulance arrives, they take over.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n If a volunteer happens to be at work that day, they could be back at their desk within 20 minutes.<\/p>\n Volunteers sign up from all backgrounds: rich, poor, religious, secular, shopkeepers, teachers, accountants, surfers, mechanics, students, and retired grandparents, too. If they\u2019re unavailable, they simply toggle a switch in the app and the algorithm automatically moves to the next volunteer.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n UH volunteers are registered, well-trained and passionate to help. Like Attias, many found their way to UH after being impacted personally by a medical emergency. In her case, it was hearing how an ambulance showed up too late to save her uncle, the victim of a bombing attack. For an Arab volunteer, it was the Jewish UH volunteer who saved his father during a heart attack. Two books have been published filled with incredible stories of universal compassion and head-scratching rescues.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n At UH\u2019s headquarters in Jerusalem, there are Haredi staff and volunteers working alongside Muslim and secular colleagues. Attias also has directed UH volunteer groups to disasters abroad, rushing to underserved areas after earthquakes in Morocco and T\u00fcrkiye.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThey hate Israelis in T\u00fcrkiye,\u201d she told those gathered. \u201cThen they see the Israeli flag on the vest of the rescue worker saving their life, and it\u2019s \u2018thank you Israel, thank you!\u2019 We saved 19 people from the rubble.\u201d She still keeps in touch with the family of a 7-year-old girl she saved in T\u00fcrkiye; the father sent messages of support on Oct. 8.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Attias suffers post-traumatic stress disorder from what she witnessed during the Hamas attack in 2023. She was on the ground, a first responder, her own life at risk; other UH volunteers were murdered and kidnapped. She was part of a UH team that set up critical triage camps to treat the wounded. When a UH volunteer livestreamed the number of bodies, Attias could not believe it was real. Today, UH operates a psycho-trauma unit to help volunteers and the public deal with what they experienced that day.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Attias spoke about how United Hatzalah is preparing for the next Oct. 7. United Hatzalah plans to be better prepared to save more lives. They are running simulated training exercises for volunteers, complete with smoke machines and make-up artists, hoping to acclimatize responders to the chaos that would exist. In the aftermath of Oct. 7, UH has seen a boost in volunteers. People are signing up to give something back, to show their appreciation and to feel less powerless, said Attias.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The ubiquitous orange vests of UH volunteers are seen throughout Israel, often riding a distinctive Ambucycle or Ambuscooter, skirting traffic or entering public markets. This is a crowdsourced, localized and turbocharged emergency medical response system that is being studied and adopted by other parts of the world, including India and Brazil, and the state of Idaho. Jeff Klein, who sits on the board of United Hatzalah Canada, shared that Vancouver City Council was also exploring the model before UH Canada shifted its efforts to support Israel in the wake of Oct. 7. Countries and communities have different cultural attitudes when it comes to volunteering and liability, but a model that works in Israel can work anywhere, with adaptations.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n United Hatzalah is funded entirely by donors and receives no money from the Israeli government.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t call them donors, we call them partners,\u201d explained Attias. Funds go directly towards life-saving medical equipment, she said, and partners receive updates about how that equipment \u2013 be it an Ambucycle, oxygen kit or medic bag \u2013 has been used. It\u2019s all transparent, and UH is widely regarded as one of the key charities making a meaningful difference in modern Israel.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Attias showed us a picture of all-female volunteer group gathered in a circle after a recent training exercise. There are women wearing hijabs next to Orthodox Jews wearing wigs. Secular, religious, people of all shades, all smiling, all participating in a noble cause greater than oneself. Attias believes this is Isaiah\u2019s prophecy of Israel acting as \u201ca light for the nations\u201d in action, spreading universal compassion, community and life-saving technology where and when it is needed most.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s impossible not to be inspired. A doctor in the room, non-Jewish, donated a rapid response ebike. Even my daughter, Raquel, gearing up for her bat mitzvah, committed to a crowdsourced fundraiser for three life-saving oxygen kits \u2013 to contribute towards her UH Maple Syrup and Mitzvahs project, which is raising funds for both the oxygen kits and two child-resuscitation kits, visit tinyurl.com\/55ur7fm7<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"photo](\"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/dec-19-cov.19.United-Hatzalah-An-Ambucycle-Photo-Courtesy-UH.jpg\")
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