Stuck in a terror attack? There’s an app for that

When an emergency strikes, the rush to get immediate help is overwhelming. 

But in a moment of shock, few have the presence of mind to fumble with a phone, remember the right number, the precise location or what medication a loved one took, and when.

For Israelis, the possibility of instant relief is closer than ever. The launch of a new app — My MDA — by Israel’s Magen David Adom means assistance is available at the touch of a button. The first thing you see when you open the app is a big red dot with the icon of a phone. Touch it, and you are in immediate visual contact with one of Israel’s nine emergency response centers.

Even if you cannot utter a word, a paramedic hears you, sees your condition, and, crucially, traces your location.

Yonat Daskal, who at 26 has spent nine years with MDA as a volunteer, paramedic and dispatcher, explained how she used the app to help a man who lost his hand in an accident. She explained: “Israel has only two hospitals equipped to handle that specific injury. Before an ambulance got to him, I asked his family to take a picture of his stump, and I was able to send it to orthopedic surgeons at both hospitals.

“I was able to find out which doctor and which department was better equipped to receive him, so by the time a helicopter arrived he was flown to a physician who was already prepping for the exact wound he had inspected in real time.”

The app is designed to operate “in many abnormal situations,” said Ido Rosenblat, MDA’s chief technology officer, ranging from domestic violence to mass-casualty terror attacks, from hostage scenarios to missile attacks. It is designed to cope with numerous simultaneous events, and operates in six languages.

Mr Rosenblat, 39, is currently in the United States, introducing the app to a first responders’ summit, and will present it at a conference on preparing for emergencies in London in May.