The "Neighbor Saves Lives" NGO (Shachen Metsil Hayim) is an Israeli accredited non-profit organization that was founded by Daniel Birnbaum in 2019 with the goal of saving lives by making AED defibrillator devices broadly accessible within the community. The NGO operates in cooperation with MADA where every device placed is registered in MADA's National Defibrillator Registry and is available for use in the event of an emergency call in the neighborhood. During the 5 years of operation, we subsidized and sold over 2,500 life-saving AEDs and indeed some of these devices saved lives of people who received an electric shock minutes before the ambulance arrived following cardiac arrest.
Every day in Israel, 17 people die of sudden cardiac arrest outside the hospital and at least some of them can be saved by providing an electric shock within 4 minutes of the event. Although we focus on the residential sector (apartment buildings or private homes), the NGO has placed many devices in synagogues, community centers and even boats in order to be available at the true moment of a cardiac emergency.
In light of the October 7 events, Amutat Shachen received permission from the authorities to use the association's infrastructure including its administrative infrastructure, tax status and volunteer network, to support activities associated with those affected by the war, especially the Israeli evacuees. Recently, the NGO received permission to lead a civilian campaign to help redeem Hostages from Gaza. The NGO is held and certified at high reporting standing and donations are tax deductible according to section 46b of the Israeli Income Tax Ordinance. For Internation donations US tax recognition is provided through JGive.