‘Put Down Phone’ Added To Stabbing Victim First Aid Instructions

“1. Contact emergency services. 2. Put down your mobile device*.”

Jerusalem, February 21 – Volunteer paramedic organizations in Israel have issued an updated set of guidelines for civilians who wish to provide care to victims in the minutes following a stabbing attack until the first responders arrive, adding a crucial preliminary step that involved freeing up both hands by not continuing to hold one’s smartphone or similar mobile device.

Magen David Adom, United Hatzolah, and ZAKA, along with several smaller volunteer groups, issued the new guidelines this week. After telling the concerned citizen to contact emergency services, or ensure that they have been contacted, the new guidelines inform those seeking to provide interim medical attention that proper care can almost always be provided only with both hands available, a situation that can only be achieved if the hand holding one’s smartphone is no longer holding it. The authors of the new guidelines included this previously omitted piece of instruction in response to myriad citizens being unaware that it is in fact possible to put down one’s phone.

“2. Put down your mobile device*,” reads the additional crucial step in the instructions, which otherwise remain more or less identical to previous guidelines. An asterisk directs the reader to the bottom of the page, where the following elaboration appears: “It poses no medical risk to the one providing care to remove said device from his or her grip for purposes of providing that care, and will in most cases enhance his or her capacity to provide it, as many types of care require that both hands be used at once. Following the provision of the first aid, it is possible to pick up the device once more with no adverse consequences. Please be aware that providing first aid may require you not to be holding your device for quite some time, up to and possibly exceeding twenty minutes, depending on how long it takes paramedics to arrive.”

A representative of MDA told PreOccupied Territory that the new instructions appear online on the organization’s website and Facebook page, and that the different groups of volunteer paramedics are coordinating the distribution of the updated guidelines elsewhere online, and posting them physically all over the country. “It’s really, really important to get this out there as quickly as possible,” explained Avi Uss. “This is especially crucial among people under the age of 50, who, according to our data, are seven times more likely than others to have a mobile device more or less attached to them at all times, and not assume it can be put down.”