MDA to teach first aid at home

If you want to learn how to save lives in an emergency but are reluctant to join a Magen David Adom course, MDA will now bring the course to you at home.

By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH
MDA sderot kassam (photo credit: Channel 10 [archive])
MDA sderot kassam
(photo credit: Channel 10 [archive])
If you want to learn how to save lives in an emergency but are reluctant to join a Magen David Adom course, MDA will now bring the course to you at home. A trained MDA counselor with simulation equipment will come to the homes of those who ask for a workshop on resuscitation, and the participants - up to eight at a time - can practice on mannequins. MDA realizes most Israelis want to learn first aid, but has difficult getting them to attend courses. Now, they can learn in a paid workshop at a convenient time in their home. MDA Director-General Eli Bin said that the number of dead from cardiac arrest could be reduced if more people were trained to save lives. MDA training department director Natan Kudinsky said the price for a two-hour lesson was NIS 295. "We have nearly 300 paramedics around the country who are ready to do it. We won't make a financial profit - the price covers costs - but it will lead to the saving of lives," he said. He noted that studies show that people who learn first-aid and resuscitation in small groups remember it better than if they were members of large groups. Participants will learn how to save choking victims, victims of heart attacks and cardiac arrest and other emergencies. MDA expects that family members of those who have had heart attacks or other medical emergencies will be among the most likely to ask for a workshop. For more information, go into the MDA Web site at www.mdais.org or call (03) 639 0396.