MDA HELPS FLY HOME BODIES OF CHAKIM FAMILY MEMBERS (24/07/2008)
MDA, in cooperation with the Foreign Ministry and the Israeli Consul in Turkey, Shmulik Shalem,
offered its help to the parents of Shai and Nir Chakim, who were killed in a tragic accident in
the hotel in which they were staying in Turkey.
MDA Director General, Eli Bin, upon hearing of the tragedy, ordered his staff to assist the family
with arrangements, covering the costs and helping in any way possible until the bodies were brought
home to Israel for burial.
MDA RESPONDS TO TERRORIST TRACTOR ATTACK IN JERUSALEM (02/07/2008)
At 12:06pm, Jerusalem Region MDA Dispatching Centre was advised of an incident where
a tractor, driven by a terrorist, drove a distance of about 300 meters on Jaffa Street
and smashed into vehicles, running down pedestrians and eventually hitting a bus.
The terrorist was eventually shot.
MDA immediately dispatched to the site 35 MDA Emergency medical vehicles, among them 6 MICU's,
a Mass Casualty Response Vehicle, MDA Commanders, EMT's and Paramedics from the Jerusalem
region.
Among the casualities were 4 killed and 48 injured.
As the event begun, MDA Blood Services contacted the hospitals and, while the wounded were treated
and evacuated to the hospitals, 50 blood units were sent including Blood components.
MDA Director General, Eli Bin, has elevated MDA's state of alertness to the highest level.
Magen David Adom volunteers returned from the second Interatnational Red Cross rescue course
organised by the Greek Red Cross in the Red Cross training facility in Pataras.
Alongside representatives of Red Cross groups from Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia, Egypt and Turkey,
familiarised themselves with eaach other's involvement in preparedness and response to disaster
in their countries and practiced rescue techniques in different scenarios.
Undertaking the two-week course were senior MDA volunteers with many years of practical experience
behind them in providing care in incidents. This experience came into play when, on the first day
of the course, an earthquake occurred in the area. Greek participants were dispatched to assist
in the rescue and care of the injured with the Magen David Adom participants accompanying them.
DOCTORS CROSSING BORDERS - MDA HOSTS INDONESIAN DELEGATION (16/06/2008)
A delegation of 23 Indonesian doctors, nurses, paramedics and psychiatrists undertook
a two-week workshop on multi-casualty incident incident, sponsored by Magen David Adom
and the Centre for International Cooperation.
The delegation visited hospitals and joined MDA staffers on ambulances to learn about a
variety of emergency skills in which MDA is very experienced. They also attended a workshop
on earthquake preparedness - since Indonesia has experience with this kind of natural disaster,
the Israeli personnel learned from them also.
With the success of this first delegation, MDA and their Indonesian counterparts hope to
continue the exchange of doctors between each other's countries.
WORLD BLOOD DONOR DAY IN ISRAEL (15/06/2008)
Blood is the fluid of life. Every day, thousands of units of blood, plasma and
other blood components, which give thousands of patients the gift of life, are
supplied to all the hospitals.
Yet, only 4.3% of all Israelis see fit to donate blood. This startling fact has
emerged from data obtained from MDA’s Blood Services Center on the occasion of
the World Blood Donor Day, which was being marked world-wide.
In 2007, 289,585 units of blood were collected nationwide. This is an increase of about
0.8% as compared to blood contributions collected in 2006.
Every day, 23 MDA Mobile Blood Stations go out to IDF bases, schools, universities,
workplaces and various sites throughout the country. Blood Services also sets up
10 specially vehicles with beds designed for blood collections at public events.
At 12:06pm, Jerusalem Region MDA Dispatching Centre was advised of an incident where
a tractor, driven by a terrorist, drove a distance of about 300 meters on Jaffa Street
and smashed into vehicles, running down pedestrians and eventually hitting a bus.
The terrorist was eventually shot.
A delegation of 23 Indonesian doctors, nurses, paramedics and psychiatrists undertook
a two-week workshop on multi-casualty incident incident, sponsored by Magen David Adom
and the Centre for International Cooperation.
The delegation visited hospitals and joined MDA staffers on ambulances to learn about a
variety of emergency skills in which MDA is very experienced. They also attended a workshop
on earthquake preparedness - since Indonesia has experience with this kind of natural disaster,
the Israeli personnel learned from them also.
