Naama Barak
March 29, 2020

As more and more people in Israel battle with coronavirus and its implications, a new national dispatch center has opened to handle regular medical emergencies and to provide special relief to people requiring aid while confined at home due to the outbreak.

The center is part of the “1221 Assistance for All” initiative set up by United Hatzalah emergency services, the Israel Association of Community Centers and community crisis organization Lev Echad.

Some 30,000 volunteers are ready to supply people calling in with medical aid and logistical assistance in picking up and dropping off medicine, medical supplies and food. They also will offer emotional support to elderly people and to those quarantined at home.

“During the current crisis taking place in Israel, United Hatzalah volunteers are still responding to medical emergencies across Israel. As an organization that serves the public, we were unable to stay complacent in the face of what we recognized as a rising humanitarian crisis of national proportions,” says United Hatzalah VP Operations Dov Maisel.

“Numerous segments of the population are suffering as a result of the current crisis due to the dramatic shift of lifestyle now being forced upon us all. We decided to mobilize together with our partners and provide a country-wide network of volunteers that will provide aid to the elderly, people with disabilities and others in need of assistance due to isolation,” he added.

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