The Soviet Union will import a sophisticated emergency medical system developed by Magen David Adom, Israel’s equivalent of the Red Cross, to serve the estimated 125,000 foreign residents and senior government officials in Moscow.
The system, known as “Keshev,” was recently introduced by the Red Magen David’s paramedical service in Ramat Gan, a Tel Aviv suburb.
The decision to establish such a service for the Moscow elite was reached last week by Valeri Bikov, the minister of medical and microbiological industries, who heads a Soviet medical mission currently visiting Israel.
The system includes a Keshev emergency beeper to summon police, firefighters and ambulance services, and an electrocardiogram that transmits at any distance over telephone line. The EKG is reserved for paying members of the paramedic service, not the average citizen.
The Soviet delegation visited Keshev head-quarters and was shown how the sensors attached to the patient’s chest send data over the phone lines. The print-out can be read instantaneously by a cardiologist at the other end of the line.
The delegates, guests of the Israel Chamber of Commerce, were preparing a $20 million list of medical equipment and pharmaceuticals they intend to purchase in Israel.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.