Israel celebrates National Defibrillator Awareness Day!
Yesterday was a big day in Israel. Magen David Adom (MDA), the Israeli version of the Red Cross, decided to designate February 21 as “National Defibrillator Awareness Day.” The Knesset even held a special meeting to mark the day's events.
This follows last month’s publication of regulations clarifying a legal obligation for all educational institutions with over 500 students enrolled to have defibrillators installed alongside their first-aid kits, as reported by Frontline News. The regulations were apparently first made three years ago but enforcement was lackadaisical and for an unexplained reason, are only now being highlighted.
It is of course entirely coincidental that this highlighting parallels the Health Ministry’s roll-out of COVID shots for Israeli teenagers. There's also no relevance to the fact that the British Heart Foundation is only now alerting the general public to the danger of young kids inexplicably collapsing while playing sports. And MDA’s announcement is similarly entirely coincidental.
It’s just that winter is a great time to raise awareness of heart attacks because they are more likely to happen then. Who knew? But a new study out of India has suggested various reasons why cold weather could cause cardiovascular problems. According to Dr. Arun Kochar, a senior cardiologist in the city of Mohali, “Cold weather may cause catastrophic health events such as stroke or heart attacks.” Some doctors apparently believe that cold temperatures induce the heart’s blood vessels to narrow, reducing blood supply to the heart muscle. Simultaneously, as temperatures drop, blood pressure increases, forcing the heart to work harder – and meaning that unaccustomed exercise can overly strain the heart.
None of that explains the massive spike in incidents of athletes dropping like flies in the immediate aftermath of getting a COVID shot, nor the thousands of cardiovascular incidents that have been documented on VAERS – just the tip of the iceberg as anyone who peruses the comments under this video, by Dr. John Campbell, can see. But maybe things will get better come summer…
In any case, this Tuesday in Israel will see a concerted effort being made across the country to broadcast the message that “anyone can save a life.” According to MDA’s press release, cardiac arrest is the second most common cause of death in the country, prompting it to begin placing defibrillators in public places around eighteen months ago. For some reason, it waited until now to inform the public.
