Magen David Adom emergency crews were dispatched 1,911,412 times during the Hebrew year 5786, equivalent to one response every 16.5 seconds on average, according to annual figures released by the organization ahead of Rosh Hashanah.
MDA said its 101 emergency hotline received more than 2 million calls during the year, with an average response time of up to two seconds.
The organization, which marked 96 years of activity, said it now has about 39,200 employees, volunteers, national service participants and civil service members, including some 16,500 teenagers. Volunteers contributed more than 6.3 million hours over the course of the year.
MDA medics and paramedics treated 67,624 people injured in road accidents and assisted 1,399 women who gave birth at home or on the way to the hospital. During the current swimming season, teams have so far treated 229 people following drowning incidents.
Its emergency fleet includes hundreds of ambulances, mobile intensive care units and motorcycles, as well as specialized vehicles for mass-casualty events, four-wheel-drive ambulances, intensive care buses and protected command vehicles. MDA also operates sea ambulances on the Sea of Galilee and in Eilat, as well as five medical helicopters in cooperation with partner organizations.
MDA
(Photo: Magen David Adom)
The organization said its blood services collected 281,917 units during the year, including more than 46,000 donations from first-time donors. Its National Human Milk Bank supplied about 5,700 liters of breast milk to premature infants, hospitalized newborns and medically vulnerable infants at home.
MDA also expanded training programs in the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks. More than 17,800 civilians have now been trained through its Magen Project to provide initial medical care during emergencies, including local rapid-response team members, municipal workers, doctors and paramedics.
About 500,000 people completed first-aid and resuscitation courses during the year, while the organization certified 401 new paramedics.
At the scene of a stabbing in Beit Shemesh
(Photo: MDA)
MDA Director-General Eli Bin said the organization had continued to expand its technological and operational capabilities while providing emergency medical care and collecting blood for hospitals and the IDF.
“About 39,200 volunteers and employees of the organization worked over the past year for the health of the residents of the State of Israel, day and night, in the air, at sea and on land,” Bin said.
“Magen David Adom teams continued to work under fire and at risk to their lives, with heroism and courage, in order to save lives in the best possible way,” he added. “In 5787, too, we will continue to do everything in our power and spare no effort for the health of the citizens of the State of Israel.”