The Providencia municipality in the Chilean capital has started a pilot project to train municipal security personnel as first responders in medical emergencies, in cooperation with the Emergency Medical Services SAMU R.M.
The partnership is part of a series of activities initiated by the Israeli embassy in Santiago, led by the ambassador and his deputy in an effort to support emergency medical services in the Chilean capital.
“Magen David Adom EMTs and paramedics are saving lives every day throughout the country,” said the organization’s director-general, Eli Bin. “It is gratifying to see how, with the experience accumulated by the MDA teams in Israel, we can contribute to saving lives around the world.”
Senior MDA officials flew to Chile last week and signed a cooperation agreement between the SAMU.R.M (The Capital Region EMS services) and MDA. As part of this project and in light of the cooperation agreement signed between the Prime Minister of Israel and the President of Chile during his last visit to Israel, a workshop was organized by SAMU who invited service managers throughout Chile, to learn on MDA’s organization of emergency medical services and the way MDA is structured.
The activity ended with a workshop initiated and hosted by the governor of the capital district in her offices in downtown Santiago; it dealt with the experience gained by MDA in organizing and providing medical coverage for large-scale public events, especially those with dignitaries.
The meeting was held in anticipation of two major conferences to be held in Chile at the end of the year: APEC (International Conference of Heads of Major Economies in Asia Pacific) and COP25 (U.N. climate conference).
“The cooperation with the ambulance service in Santiago is very important for the residents,” said Bin, “and we are grateful for the opportunity to help them save lives.”
