Crowdfunding for life saving: Volunteer medic from Pittsburgh asks for help
Pittsburgher Joshua Wander, who moved to Jerusalem in 2013, has launched a global crowdfunding campaign to provide Quickclot, a hemostatic gauze used to quickly treat open wounds and stop bleeding, to medics in Israel treating victims of terror attacks.
Wander, who was the Republican nominee for mayor of Pittsburgh in the 2013 general election, is a volunteer medic in Jerusalem.
“After having treated many of the victims from the most recent wave of terrorism, I realized the necessity [of launching the GoFundMe campaign],” Wander wrote in an email, adding that he “consulted with senior physicians and paramedics” about the product.
Wander launched his campaign on Oct. 13, with the goal of raising $10,000. In just two days, he had raised almost $3,000.
Quickclot has been used “extremely successfully by the U.S. military in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Wander states on his GoFundMe page. “The problem is that it is considered to be too expensive to supply to the average medic in Israel. On average, it retails for between $35 and $50 per unit. I’m trying to raise enough money to equip Jerusalem medics with this life-saving tool.”
Wander has been familiar with the product for years.
“It is common knowledge that it is what has saved many U.S. soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan,” he said.
When there is a large open wound in a part of the body where one cannot place a tourniquet, according to Wander, “this product quickly and effectively coagulated the blood in order to stop the bleeding and hopefully save the victim. It should be noted that most of the Israeli victims are from stabbing wounds that were in the neck and upper torso, areas where tourniquets are essentially useless.”
If Wander reaches his $10,000 goal, he said he will reach out to his colleagues in the Magen David Adom and United Hatzala paramedic teams “to offer them to make the purchase (hopefully at a significant discount) and distribute the product as they see fit.”
Wander is currently working as a political and security consultant in Israel, he said. To donate, go to: www.gofundme.com/ww69uu42.
Toby Tabachnick can be reached at tobyt@thejewishchronicle.net.
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