As the Jewish New Year approaches, Magen David Adom (MDA), Israel’s national emergency medical service, is looking back on a year of saving lives across the country, in routine emergencies and during times of war and crisis.
During the Hebrew year 5786, MDA marked 96 years of activity. Over the past year, MDA EMTs and paramedics were dispatched to 1,911,412 incidents, using thousands of mobile intensive care units (MICUs), ambulances, emergency motorcycles and rapid response vehicles operating throughout Israel. On average, an MDA emergency team was dispatched every 16.5 seconds.
MDA’s 101 Emergency Call Center received 2,020,218 calls during the year, with a call answered every 15.9 seconds on average. The average response time to a 101 call was two seconds or less.
The year in numbers
Approximately 39,200 volunteers, employees, national-service participants and civil-service members serve with MDA, including approximately 16,500 youth volunteers. An additional 18,000 Life Guardians (“Ne’emanei Haim”) are active within MDA. MDA volunteers contributed more than 6.3 million hours of volunteer service. The average age of an MDA volunteer is 26.8.
The oldest volunteer is a 92-year-old resident of Ness Ziona, while the youngest MDA volunteer is 14.
MDA operates 213 stations and dispatch points throughout Israel.
MDA operates thousands of MICUs, ambulances, motorcycles and specialized emergency vehicles nationwide, including:
· 275 rapid response vehicles, including 50 electric vehicles
· 117 ambulances and MICUs equipped with four-wheel drive
· 652 motorcycles, including 116 heavy motorcycles
· 17 all-terrain vehicles
· 27 Mass Casualty Incident (MCI) vehicles
· 42 trailers equipped with supplies for treating mass-casualty incidents
· 17 Medical Supervisor vehicles
· 3 Unimog vehicles
· 5 intensive care buses
· 10 ambulances equipped with lifts for people with disabilities
· 8 ambulances equipped with specialized stretchers for bariatric patients
· 3 MICUs capable of treating two critically ill patients simultaneously
· 104 ambulances, MICUs and command vehicles with ballistic protection
· 3 electric MiaFour vehicles
· 2 electric vehicles for sports facilities
· 1 truck equipped for staff accommodation and overnight stays
· 2 mobile dispatch points on trailers
· 1 mobile clinic trailer
On the Sea of Galilee, MDA operates an intensive care sea ambulance vessel, while an MDA sea ambulance boat operates off the coast of Eilat. Together, they were dispatched to 153 incidents during the year.
The organization’s mobile ECMO unit, operated in cooperation with Shamir Medical Center, treated nine patients, five of whom were connected to a heart-lung machine as part of field resuscitation efforts.
During 5786, MDA emergency vehicles were dispatched 1,911,412 times, meaning an MDA team was dispatched, on average, every 16.5 seconds. In road accidents across Israel, MDA EMTs and paramedics provided medical treatment to 67,624 injured people. During the current bathing season, which began after Passover and will end after Sukkot, MDA teams have so far provided medical treatment to 229 adults and children rescued from the sea, swimming pools and other bodies of water after drowning.
As many as 500,000 men and women completed CPR and first-aid courses through more than 17,000 courses held throughout Israel during the past year. Thousands received training through MDA’s free first-aid and emergency building-responder courses held in bomb shelters and protected spaces as part of its public service during the Iron Swords War and Operations “Am Kalavi” and “Roaring Lion.”
The Medical Division certified 401 new paramedics this year, including 117 national-service participants. A total of 970 youth volunteers were trained to respond to mass-casualty incidents; 591 teens were certified as first-aid instructors; and 190 youth volunteers completed youth leadership and resilience training.
As part of the lessons learned from Oct. 7, 2023, MDA’s Operations Division launched Project Magen, designed to prepare Israel’s civilian population for emergencies. Since the project’s launch, 17,804 civilians, including members of local security squads, municipal employees and inspectors, have been trained to provide initial medical care. Of these, 1,322 were trained this year.
Project participants, including more than 1,000 doctors and paramedics, were equipped by MDA with medical supplies, enabling them to provide an initial medical response when necessary, including during incidents in which a community is cut off from access routes due to a natural disaster, war, terrorist infiltration or other emergency.
