“Open lines” in emergencies protocol

Providing emotional support via the telephone during emergency situations has become a well-known and accepted method for helping people. In the past, the telephone was seen as an alienating means of communication. Today, however, most people are intimately attached to their smartphones (which are actually mobile personal computers) and can use them to access many services. Asking for assistance via telephone has become legitimate, and is even more common than face-to-face meetings. This widespread use of mobile phones can be seen as representing the physical and psychological distance between people in the reality of the twenty-first century. At the same time, mobile phones can bring people together during emergencies and in their aftermath, when security and stability have been severely undermined. Phones can also be used to provide assistance to people who were not directly harmed, and facilitate their efforts to restore a sense of equilibrium. Research has proven that using phones to help people in need is effective, simple, and economical in terms of time and emotional energy. Israeli citizens have used the Ministry of Welfare’s Open Line service frequently, and it has received positive feedback. In the meantime, the threats of war and terrorism continue. This has led to the conclusion that the Open Line should become an official and professionalized service.