THE JERUSALEM POST — Magen David Adom has been responsible for all of Israel’s blood supply, including for the IDF, since 1950. MDA has ensured that the State of Israel’s medical system has the blood supply needed despite the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the organisation’s Director of Blood Services Prof. Eilat Shinar, M.D.
“We had a major challenge, because most of the working places were closed – schools, yeshivas, all of the places we are usually going to collect blood from 1,000 volunteers a day were closed, ” she said in an interview at The Jerusalem Post Annual Conference on Tuesday, October 12.
Photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem
Watch the MDA panel segment at 5:23 in the Jerusalem Post conference video>>
“So we thought out of the box and decided to go to the neighborhoods. People could just go out of their own houses to a mobile blood unit and donate blood.”
She spoke on a panel with her colleague, Dr. Shafir Botner, director of MDA’s Paramedic Training School. He told the Post about a new program that is soon to launch that will allow U.S.-trained paramedics to receive certification in Israel and vice versa.