0:00:00.396,0:00:03.349
This is an ambucycle.

0:00:03.373,0:00:08.388
This is the fastest way[br]to reach any medical emergency.

0:00:08.412,0:00:12.890
It has everything an ambulance[br]has except for a bed.

0:00:12.914,0:00:16.646
You see the defibrillator.[br]You see the equipment.

0:00:16.670,0:00:19.812
We all saw the tragedy[br]that happened in Boston.

0:00:19.836,0:00:21.892
When I was looking at these pictures,

0:00:21.916,0:00:24.882
it brought me back many years to my past

0:00:24.906,0:00:26.452
when I was a child.

0:00:26.476,0:00:29.530
I grew up in a small[br]neighborhood in Jerusalem.

0:00:29.554,0:00:33.621
When I was six years old,[br]I was walking back from school

0:00:33.645,0:00:37.356
on a Friday afternoon[br]with my older brother.

0:00:37.380,0:00:39.608
We were passing by a bus stop.

0:00:39.632,0:00:43.651
We saw a bus blow up in front of our eyes.

0:00:43.675,0:00:48.696
The bus was on fire, and many people[br]were hurt and killed.

0:00:48.720,0:00:50.628
I remembered an old man

0:00:50.652,0:00:54.096
yelling to us and crying[br]to help us get him up.

0:00:54.120,0:00:56.559
He just needed someone helping him.

0:00:56.583,0:01:00.093
We were so scared and we just ran away.

0:01:00.117,0:01:03.883
Growing up, I decided I wanted[br]to become a doctor and save lives.

0:01:03.907,0:01:06.884
Maybe that was because of what I saw[br]when I was a child.

0:01:06.908,0:01:10.176
When I was 15, I took an EMT course,

0:01:10.200,0:01:13.236
and I went to volunteer on an ambulance.

0:01:13.260,0:01:16.653
For two years, I volunteered[br]on an ambulance in Jerusalem.

0:01:16.677,0:01:18.505
I helped many people,

0:01:18.529,0:01:21.420
but whenever someone really needed help,

0:01:21.444,0:01:23.762
I never got there in time.[br]We never got there.

0:01:23.786,0:01:26.271
The traffic is so bad. The[br]distance, and everything.

0:01:26.295,0:01:29.096
We never got there when[br]somebody really needed us.

0:01:29.120,0:01:31.787
One day, we received a call[br]about a seven-year-old child

0:01:31.811,0:01:33.370
choking from a hot dog.

0:01:33.394,0:01:35.537
Traffic was horrific,[br]and we were coming from

0:01:35.561,0:01:39.148
the other side of town[br]in the north part of Jerusalem.

0:01:39.172,0:01:41.434
When we got there, 20 minutes later,

0:01:41.458,0:01:43.952
we started CPR on the kid.

0:01:43.976,0:01:47.436
A doctor comes in from a block away,

0:01:47.460,0:01:52.632
stop us, checks the kid,[br]and tells us to stop CPR.

0:01:52.656,0:01:56.389
That second he declared this child dead.

0:01:56.413,0:01:59.386
At that moment, I understood

0:01:59.410,0:02:02.257
that this child died for nothing.

0:02:02.281,0:02:05.812
If this doctor, who lived[br]one block away from there,

0:02:05.836,0:02:07.503
would have come 20 minutes earlier,

0:02:07.527,0:02:10.529
not have to wait[br]until that siren he heard before

0:02:10.553,0:02:11.815
coming from the ambulance,

0:02:11.839,0:02:14.749
if he would have heard[br]about it way before,

0:02:14.773,0:02:16.482
he would have saved this child.

0:02:16.506,0:02:18.613
He could have run from a block away.

0:02:18.637,0:02:20.300
He could have saved this child.

0:02:20.324,0:02:22.985
I said to myself, there[br]must be a better way.

0:02:23.009,0:02:24.934
Together with 15 of my friends --

0:02:24.958,0:02:26.705
we were all EMTs —

0:02:26.729,0:02:28.777
we decided, let's protect[br]our neighborhood,

0:02:28.801,0:02:30.801
so when something like that happens again,

0:02:30.825,0:02:34.215
we will be there running to the scene[br]a lot before the ambulance.

0:02:34.239,0:02:37.188
So I went over to the manager[br]of the ambulance company

0:02:37.212,0:02:39.546
and I told him, "Please,[br]whenever you have a call

0:02:39.570,0:02:41.207
coming into our neighborhood,

0:02:41.231,0:02:43.112
we have 15 great guys who are willing

0:02:43.136,0:02:45.803
to stop everything they're[br]doing and run and save lives.

0:02:45.827,0:02:47.231
Just alert us by beeper.

0:02:47.255,0:02:49.572
We'll buy these beepers,[br]just tell your dispatch

0:02:49.596,0:02:53.483
to send us the beeper,[br]and we will run and save lives."

0:02:53.507,0:03:00.460
Well, he was laughing. I was 17 years old.[br]I was a kid.

0:03:00.484,0:03:03.846
And he said to me — I remember[br]this like yesterday —

0:03:03.870,0:03:06.203
he was a great guy, but he said to me,

0:03:06.227,0:03:10.639
"Kid, go to school, or go[br]open a falafel stand.

0:03:10.663,0:03:14.640
We're not really interested[br]in these kinds of new adventures.

0:03:14.664,0:03:18.255
We're not interested in your help."[br]And he threw me out of the room.

0:03:18.279,0:03:20.914
"I don't need your help," he said.

0:03:20.938,0:03:24.493
I was a very stubborn kid.

0:03:24.517,0:03:27.911
As you see now, I'm walking[br]around like crazy, meshugenah.

0:03:27.935,0:03:32.883
(Laughter) (Applause)

0:03:32.907,0:03:36.936
So I decided to use the Israeli[br]very famous technique

0:03:36.960,0:03:40.591
you've probably all heard of, chutzpah.[br](Laughter)

0:03:40.615,0:03:45.275
And the next day, I went[br]and I bought two police scanners,

0:03:45.299,0:03:46.889
and I said, "The hell[br]with you, if you don't want

0:03:46.913,0:03:49.840
to give me information, I'll get[br]the information myself."

0:03:49.864,0:03:53.105
And we did turns, who's going[br]to listen to the radio scanners.

0:03:53.129,0:03:55.874
The next day, while I was listening[br]to the scanners,

0:03:55.898,0:03:59.190
I heard about a call coming[br]in of a 70-year-old man

0:03:59.214,0:04:02.800
hurt by a car only one block away from me

0:04:02.824,0:04:05.491
on the main street of my neighborhood.

0:04:05.515,0:04:08.194
I ran there by foot. I had[br]no medical equipment.

0:04:08.218,0:04:11.144
When I got there, the 70-year-old man

0:04:11.168,0:04:14.058
was lying on the floor, blood[br]was gushing out of his neck.

0:04:14.082,0:04:15.271
He was on Coumadin.

0:04:15.295,0:04:20.265
I knew I had to stop his bleeding[br]or else he would die.

0:04:20.289,0:04:23.208
I took off my yarmulke,[br]because I had no medical equipment,

0:04:23.232,0:04:25.661
and with a lot of pressure,[br]I stopped his bleeding.

0:04:25.685,0:04:27.176
He was bleeding from his neck.

0:04:27.200,0:04:30.633
When the ambulance arrived[br]15 minutes later,

0:04:30.657,0:04:33.220
I gave them over a patient who was alive.

0:04:33.244,0:04:41.200
(Applause)

0:04:41.224,0:04:43.362
When I went to visit him two days later,

0:04:43.386,0:04:45.697
he gave me a hug and was crying

0:04:45.721,0:04:48.719
and thanking me for saving his life.

0:04:48.743,0:04:51.740
At that moment, when I realized[br]this is the first person

0:04:51.764,0:04:55.050
I ever saved in my life after two years[br]volunteering in an ambulance,

0:04:55.074,0:04:57.742
I knew this is my life's mission.

0:04:57.766,0:05:01.907
So today, 22 years later,[br]we have United Hatzalah.

0:05:01.931,0:05:08.297
(Applause)

0:05:08.321,0:05:11.369
"Hatzalah" means "rescue,"[br]for all of you who don't know Hebrew.

0:05:11.393,0:05:13.321
I forgot I'm not in Israel.

0:05:13.345,0:05:16.256
So we have thousands of volunteers

0:05:16.280,0:05:19.175
who are passionate about saving lives,

0:05:19.199,0:05:22.009
and they're spread all around,[br]so whenever a call comes in,

0:05:22.033,0:05:26.405
they just stop everything[br]and go and run and save a life.

0:05:26.429,0:05:28.962
Our average response time today

0:05:28.986,0:05:32.676
went down to less[br]than three minutes in Israel.

0:05:32.700,0:05:36.322
(Applause)

0:05:36.346,0:05:37.870
I'm talking about heart attacks,

0:05:37.894,0:05:39.502
I'm talking about car accidents,

0:05:39.526,0:05:42.376
God forbid bomb attacks,[br]shootings, whatever it is,

0:05:42.400,0:05:44.315
even a woman 3 o'clock in the morning

0:05:44.339,0:05:46.720
falling in her home and needs[br]someone to help her.

0:05:46.744,0:05:49.084
Three minutes, we'll have[br]a guy with his pajamas

0:05:49.108,0:05:52.733
running to her house[br]and helping her get up.

0:05:52.757,0:05:55.805
The reasons why we're so successful[br]are because of three things.

0:05:55.829,0:05:57.627
Thousands of passionate volunteers

0:05:57.651,0:05:59.347
who will leave everything they do

0:05:59.371,0:06:02.258
and run to help people[br]they don't even know.

0:06:02.282,0:06:04.601
We're not there to replace ambulances.

0:06:04.625,0:06:06.205
We're just there

0:06:06.229,0:06:12.255
to get the gap between the ambulance[br]call until they arrive.

0:06:12.279,0:06:17.142
And we save people that otherwise[br]would not be saved.

0:06:17.166,0:06:20.501
The second reason[br]is because of our technology.

0:06:20.525,0:06:22.525
You know, Israelis are good in technology.

0:06:22.549,0:06:25.758
Every one of us has on his phone,[br]no matter what kind of phone,

0:06:25.782,0:06:28.834
a GPS technology done by NowForce,

0:06:28.858,0:06:30.281
and whenever a call comes in,

0:06:30.305,0:06:32.456
the closest five volunteers get the call,

0:06:32.480,0:06:35.354
and they actually get there really quick,

0:06:35.378,0:06:39.078
and navigated by a traffic navigator[br]to get there and not waste time.

0:06:39.102,0:06:41.277
And this is a great technology[br]we use all over the country

0:06:41.301,0:06:42.867
and reduce the response time.

0:06:42.891,0:06:45.003
And the third thing are these ambucycles.

0:06:45.027,0:06:48.312
These ambucycles[br]are an ambulance on two wheels.

0:06:48.336,0:06:50.622
We don't transfer people,[br]but we stabilize them,

0:06:50.646,0:06:51.863
and we save their lives.

0:06:51.887,0:06:55.030
They never get stuck in traffic.[br]They could even go on a sidewalk.

0:06:55.054,0:06:57.395
They never, literally,[br]get stuck in traffic.

0:06:57.419,0:06:59.200
That's why we get there so fast.

0:06:59.224,0:07:01.682
A few years after I started[br]this organization,

0:07:01.706,0:07:03.427
in a Jewish community,

0:07:03.451,0:07:06.230
two Muslims from east[br]Jerusalem called me up.

0:07:06.254,0:07:08.928
They ask me to meet. They[br]wanted to meet with me.

0:07:08.952,0:07:11.419
Muhammad Asli and Murad Alyan.

0:07:11.443,0:07:13.396
When Muhammad told me his personal story,

0:07:13.420,0:07:16.251
how his father, 55 years[br]old, collapsed at home,

0:07:16.275,0:07:17.507
had a cardiac arrest,

0:07:17.531,0:07:19.927
and it took over an hour[br]for an ambulance arrive,

0:07:19.951,0:07:22.190
and he saw his father die[br]in front of his eyes,

0:07:22.214,0:07:24.985
he asked me, "Please start[br]this in east Jerusalem."

0:07:25.009,0:07:28.810
I said to myself, I saw so[br]much tragedy, so much hate,

0:07:28.834,0:07:32.094
and it's not about saving Jews.[br]It's not about saving Muslims.

0:07:32.118,0:07:35.666
It's not about saving Christians.[br]It's about saving people.

0:07:35.690,0:07:38.079
So I went ahead, full force --

0:07:38.103,0:07:42.670
(Applause) —

0:07:42.694,0:07:46.337
and I started United[br]Hatzalah in east Jerusalem,

0:07:46.361,0:07:48.156
and that's why the names United

0:07:48.180,0:07:50.236
and Hatzalah match so well.

0:07:50.260,0:07:54.088
We started hand in hand[br]saving Jews and Arabs.

0:07:54.112,0:07:56.351
Arabs were saving Jews.[br]Jews were saving Arabs.

0:07:56.375,0:07:58.352
Something special happened.

0:07:58.376,0:08:01.017
Arabs and Jews, they don't[br]always get along together,

0:08:01.041,0:08:02.327
but here in this situation,

0:08:02.351,0:08:04.120
the communities, literally,

0:08:04.144,0:08:06.287
it's an unbelievable[br]situation that happened,

0:08:06.311,0:08:08.881
the diversities, all of a sudden[br]they had a common interest:

0:08:08.905,0:08:10.323
Let's save lives together.

0:08:10.347,0:08:13.109
Settlers were saving Arabs[br]and Arabs were saving settlers.

0:08:13.133,0:08:15.229
It's an unbelievable[br]concept that could work

0:08:15.253,0:08:17.984
only when you have such a great cause.

0:08:18.008,0:08:19.857
And these are all volunteers.

0:08:19.881,0:08:20.976
No one is getting money.

0:08:21.000,0:08:24.852
They're all doing it[br]for the purpose of saving lives.

0:08:24.876,0:08:27.137
When my own father[br]collapsed a few years ago

0:08:27.161,0:08:29.542
from a cardiac arrest,[br]one of the first volunteers

0:08:29.566,0:08:31.307
to arrive to save my father

0:08:31.331,0:08:33.903
was one of these Muslim[br]volunteers from east Jerusalem

0:08:33.927,0:08:37.448
who was in the first[br]course to join Hatzalah.

0:08:37.472,0:08:38.525
And he saved my father.

0:08:38.549,0:08:43.032
Could you imagine[br]how I felt in that moment?

0:08:43.056,0:08:46.141
When I started this organization,[br]I was 17 years old.

0:08:46.165,0:08:49.551
I never imagined that one day[br]I'd be speaking at TEDMED.

0:08:49.575,0:08:51.433
I never even knew what TEDMED was then.

0:08:51.457,0:08:54.577
I don't think it existed,[br]but I never imagined,

0:08:54.601,0:08:56.982
I never imagined that it's going[br]to go all around,

0:08:57.006,0:08:58.064
it's going to spread around,

0:08:58.088,0:09:01.132
and this last year we started[br]in Panama and Brazil.

0:09:01.156,0:09:04.514
All I need is a partner[br]who is a little meshugenah like me,

0:09:04.538,0:09:07.904
passionate about saving[br]lives, and willing to do it.

0:09:07.928,0:09:11.413
And I'm actually starting[br]it in India very soon

0:09:11.437,0:09:15.066
with a friend who I met[br]in Harvard just a while back.

0:09:15.090,0:09:18.934
Hatzalah actually started[br]in Brooklyn by a Hasidic Jew

0:09:18.958,0:09:21.212
years before us in Williamsburg,

0:09:21.236,0:09:23.935
and now it's all over the Jewish[br]community in New York,

0:09:23.959,0:09:27.195
even Australia and Mexico[br]and many other Jewish communities.

0:09:27.219,0:09:28.789
But it could spread everywhere.

0:09:28.813,0:09:31.345
It's very easy to adopt.

0:09:31.369,0:09:33.621
You even saw these volunteers in New York

0:09:33.645,0:09:36.737
saving lives in the World Trade Center.

0:09:36.761,0:09:40.282
Last year alone, we treated[br]in Israel 207,000 people.

0:09:40.306,0:09:45.005
Forty-two thousand of them were[br]life-threatening situations.

0:09:45.029,0:09:47.182
And we made a difference.

0:09:47.206,0:09:49.930
I guess you could call this[br]a lifesaving flash mob,

0:09:49.954,0:09:52.353
and it works.

0:09:52.377,0:09:54.800
When I look all around here,

0:09:54.824,0:09:58.191
I see lots of people[br]who would go an extra mile,

0:09:58.215,0:10:00.912
run an extra mile to save other people,

0:10:00.936,0:10:03.649
no matter who they are,[br]no matter what religion,

0:10:03.673,0:10:06.565
no matter who, where they come from.

0:10:06.589,0:10:08.350
We all want to be heroes.

0:10:08.374,0:10:11.736
We just need a good idea, motivation

0:10:11.760,0:10:13.571
and lots of chutzpah,

0:10:13.595,0:10:15.736
and we could save millions of people

0:10:15.760,0:10:17.908
that otherwise would not be saved.

0:10:17.932,0:10:19.593
Thank you very much.

0:10:19.617,0:10:24.587
(Applause)