Despite legislation passed three years ago, the government has yet to install
heart defibrillators in public areas – forcing volunteer organization United
Hatzalah to rely on donated devices to save lives.
One defibrillator,
part of a generous donation to the rescue organization, restarted the heartbeat
of a Jerusalem man – ironically the father of a UH volunteer. As the man walked
with his grandson from the Bayit Vegan neighborhood towards the Western Wall, he
suffered cardiac arrest. The first responders raced to the scene and used the
defibrillator – contributed by the Conference on Jewish Material Claims against
Germany – saving his life.
Aryeh, a UH volunteer who lives in the
capital’s Rehavia neighborhood, carries the defibrillator, which the Claims
Conference donated to save elderly Holocaust survivors but is available for the
use of anyone in need of resuscitation.
The UH called Aryeh to the
Mamilla mall, where within two minutes he bent over the collapsed man lacking a
palpable pulse. He attached the electrodes and restarted the man’s
heart.
“The feeling that you can save a life gives a lot of satisfaction,
but the feeling that you have the privilege of saving the father of a fellow
volunteer is amazing,” Aryeh said.
A 2009 law mandates that
defibrillators be purchased with public funds and installed in public places
around the country. Yet the legislation remains unfulfilled.
The
Industry, Trade and Labor Ministry said in 2010 – a year after the law’s
enactment – that it intended to establish regulations for the installation of
the devices. The government will rely on private organization Magen David Adom’s
assistance.
According to the ministry, one delay is a requirement
specifying that clear, uniform signs are posted along with the
devices.
Chief ministry labor inspector Yoram Elazari told the Knesset in
2010 that resuscitation fell outside the purview of the ministry. He asked the
MDA to help with the installation process, along with the Israel Cardiologists
Society and the Health Ministry for dealing with the licensing of
equipment.
The Health Ministry said Sunday that it was not responsible
for the law’s implementation and thus did not know the status of defibrillator
installation When asked by The Jerusalem Post why three years later,
defibrillators remain scarce across the country, the Industry, Trade and Labor
Ministry spokeswoman said that “the writing of regulations for the devices have
now been completed.
“The regulations define the specific demands for the
type of defibrillators approved, the way they will be installed in public places
and signs, as well as for [supervising] the necessary examinations of the
equipment,” she said.
According to the spokeswoman, “the final draft has
been sent for public comments and will be presented for approval by the Knesset
House Committee. In addition, an amendment is needed because carrying out the
demands required a supervisory body with experience in giving urgent medical
care. The amendment has been approved by the Ministerial Committee on
Legislation and been presented to the Knesset for a final vote.”
In the
meantime, people may die due to bureaucratic obstacles and a dire lack of
defibrillators.
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