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Emergency Response Technology: Where Orthodox Jews and Arabs Unite In Israel

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It's not the only place they unite, but oh what a place.

It’s day two of my marathon tour of Israeli tech – I am part of a delegation – and already I am feeling the fatigue. By my count, this is our 11th meeting, but the scene before us is giving me a second wind. We’re in an oversized conference room at the Azrieli College of Engineering in Jerusalem, and toward the back of the room are at least half a dozen folks in kipas (yarmulkes) and the standard-issue orange EMT vests. Around the table is a motley crew of students, entrepreneurs, and teachers, all with more religious markers than we have seen over the last 48 hours. On the side of the room are cookies, cake and coffee (customary at meetings like this; I partake). And at the head of the table, a charismatic leader for United Hatzalah (UH) – one of the most innovative EMS services I have ever heard of – is rallying the crowd.   He’s reminding the audience that UH is powered by the “most famous Jewish technology: chutzpah!” The room cheers. I wake up.

It’s a great conclusion to a super-long day where we looked at the gaps that still exist in the Israeli tech miracle. UH has a volunteer force of 2,500, most of them orthodox Jews, which as a group have been largely left behind in Start-Up Nation. And although the project is volunteer based, there are at least three things that lead me to believe that this can help close the gap.

First, there’s the ingenuity of the system itself. Launched by Eli Beer – who witnessed the bombing of a bus in Jerusalem in 1978 – UH uses mobile tech, motorbikes, and, yes, major chutzpah to reduce the time it takes to respond to emergencies. The mobile tech comes in the form of an app, which helps to connect UH’s massive volunteer forces. The motorbikes help the EMTs – all trained to be awesome, btw – to navigate through the narrow streets in Israeli Arab neighborhoods. And the chutzpah? UH got its start by listening to scanners to get to the scene faster than ambulances. Their bikes are equipped with oxygen, defibrillalators, and other trauma gear to care for the patient in those critical first moments. Response time: average of 3 minutes, compared to 12-15 minutes in typical emergency response.  Ultimate goal:  90 seconds.

Second, the larger context for our meeting with UH was the education engagement of the so-called ultra-orthodox in Israel. In attendance were folks from the neighboring Jerusalem College of Technology, which offers "exclusive programs developed specifically for Haredi (ultra-orthodox) men and women and other demographic groups." JCT and other organizations in Israel are looking to help close the technology gap of ultra-orthodox Jews, Arabs, Druze and Circasians. For the ultra-orthodox, a number of things have conspired against gainful employment in the tech sector, including the daily requirements of prayer and religious study. I got the sense that the scene at Azrieli was an emerging community that could potentially provide the emotional support for making the transition.

But there’s another demographic twist in the UH story. Israeli Arabs, too, are part of the UH force, bringing relief to all parts of Israel. For this, UH has been recognized by former Prime Minister Shimon Peres whose work now focuses on technology projects that engage both Arabs and Jews. And now UH is beginning to teach other nations to adopt its model, a move that’s consistent with Start-Up Nation co-author Saul Singer’s vision of an Israel that evolves by better serving the world.

In the meantime, there’s a lot of work that remains to be done inside the country, and UH might provide the right kind of inspiration. To catch the vibe, check out the video.