Lt. Gov. Gregg discusses Iowa United First Aid pilot program
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Iowa Lt. Governor Adam Gregg (right) was at the Ringgold County Hospital to discuss funding of a new program aimed at decreasing emergency response times in rural Iowa.
The Iowa Economic Development Authority awarded three $50,000 grants to Calhoun County Public Health, Cass County Board of Health, and Van Buren County Hospital to test a new volunteer program aimed at decreasing emergency response times in rural Iowa.
The total grant funding of $150,000 was made available through the Governor’s Empower Rural Iowa Initiative. The three counties are all testing a new state pilot program called Iowa United First Aid that treats emergency medical services (EMS) like Uber.
The app, once implemented, will send the closest staff member to respond to an emergency before an ambulance can arrive. It’s called Iowa United First Aid.
The model that was adapted from the Israeli nonprofit United Hatzalah (which translates to “United Rescue”). The Israeli model uses technology to crowdsource nearby volunteer emergency responders and has lowered response times to an average of ninety seconds in cities like Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, and to three minutes on average across the country.
Cass County was the first county to get the program up and running on Dec. 6. Van Buren County launched the program on Dec. 12. Calhoun County is still getting the program online.
“This model holds real promise in using technology and innovation to solve a serious challenge facing our rural communities,” said Lt. Governor Gregg.
If someone is in need of help, he or she calls 911 like normal. The call comes through the communications center in Atlantic. Then, volunteers within a certain range of distance of the call are notified. They can then accept or decline to respond to the call.
