New MDA app helps save lives

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Magen David Adom, Israel’s national emergency medicine service and Red Cross national society, has released a mobile app that aims to significantly streamline the process of locating, reaching, and saving people’s lives.

Although the My MDA app has only been available in the App Stores for a couple of weeks, it already has over 21,000 installs.

The MDA app

With a click of a button, users are able to directly contact EMTs and paramedics operating MDA dispatch centers. In a matter of seconds, information such as the caller’s location and medical record is securely transmitted to MDA’s command and control system and displayed to the dispatcher. This dramatically cuts down anamnesis duration, enabling centers to dispatch medical teams to the patient faster. In fact, AKG information doesn’t only become accessible to the dispatch center, but paramedics and EMTs can use the app to transmit data to the doctor who will be treating the patient upon arrival to the hospital.

Ido Rosenblat, Chief Information Officer at Magen David Adom: “At MDA we already have one of the most technological EMS dispatch centers in the world, and with the My MDA app, we can say that we’ve revolutionized procedures even further. With the app’s ability to provide valuable information such as the caller’s medical record and current location, as well as broadcast live video footage from the scene to the dispatch center, we’re now able to dramatically cut call times, reach people faster, and thus save more lives.”

As of today, new versions of the app in English, Russian, Arabic, French and Amharic are available in the Google Play Store, in order to enable Israeli minorities to easily and conveniently access MDA services. Research shows that when a person is experiencing a medical emergency, they find it more difficult to communicate in a language other than their mother tongue. The MDA app enables minorities in Israel to text dispatch centers in their native language to avoid a language barrier.

However, this isn’t the only breakthrough, the app features innovative, state of the art technology facilitating new capabilities that can dramatically increase the amount of lives saved by the national EMS organization. My MDA offers the following functionalities:

• The app features a large, red button that says “Call 101”, allowing users to quickly and intuitively call MDA teams at a time of emergency.

• With the revolutionary video feature, callers can broadcast live footage from the scene to the dispatcher, which can then provide instructions on what to do until MDA teams arrive.

• Users can manage a mini medical record within the app so dispatchers can instantly access valuable information such as chronic diseases, allergies, medication sensitivity, previous illnesses etc.

• Users can call MDA teams when a member of their family is experiencing a medical emergency by adding family member profiles to their own account.

• MDA dispatch centers can easily spot where the call emanates from using GPS technologies, making it easier to reach people who either don’t know or aren’t able to articulate where they are.

• People with speaking or hearing impairments can use the app to text the dispatch center.

• Users can text MDA dispatch centers in English, Russian, French, Arabic and Amharic. The text is then immediately translated and displayed to the dispatcher in Hebrew.

MDA Director General, Eli Bin: “MDA is at the forefront of emergency medicine technology and is considered an international leader in the field. Investing in human capital, training and education, as well as the development of innovative technologies is what upholds MDA’s high standard and maximizes its life saving activities. We’ve worked hard to make My MDA accessible and user-friendly to the varied Israeli public – when it comes to saving lives, a human is a human regardless of their background.”