Iowa to Start Pilot Program Based on United Hatzalah Model

By Matis Glenn

Iowa is looking to Israel’s United Hatzalah for inspiration to tackle the problem of emergency response time in its rural areas, the state’s Lieutenant Governor said earlier this month.

At the state’s inaugural address on January 10, where Gov. Kim Reynolds and Lt. Gov. Adam Gregg were sworn in, Gregg spoke about the challenges facing rural Iowans, one of which was long emergency response times, saying that  “Too many rural Iowans have limited access to timely life-saving intervention in an emergency.”

Gregg then said that the state plans to use creativity to address the issue, “as well with an assist from our friends in the Holy Land.” Gregg learned of United Hatzalah’s app-based system, which alerts nearby responders whenever an emergency call is made, allowing whoever is closest to attend to the patient.

“Think of it as Uber, but for EMS,” Gregg explained.

Gregg was impressed at Hatzalah’s model, which has brought emergency response times in Yerushalayim down to 90 seconds.

“We believe this concept can be adapted to help us address our EMS challenges in rural Iowa and we’ll be funding a pilot program to do just that,” Gregg said.

“Our goal in all of this is to give Iowans the freedom to build the life they dream of no matter where they live.”