Magen David Adom

Supporting Magen David Adom in Saving Lives

School classrooms and an entire building of “Issta” have been Converted into MDA Emergency Call Centres and Workstations

As part of MDA’s efforts to deal with the corona virus and being at the forefront of the fight, dozens of workstations have been opened at new dispatch centres around the country, which are manned by no less than 500 EMTs and paramedics, including dozens of MDA reserve units in the Home Front Command.

MDA receives tens of thousands of calls a day, with the peak reaching more than 100,000 calls in one day, which has required the organization to open additional dispatch centres that control the entire country to meet the call load, while maintaining response to MDA’s emergency routine. In all the newly opened dispatch centres, the most advanced command and control systems and technologies in the world are being used by MDA.

One of the dispatch centres opened is in the “Issta” building in Tel Aviv, which was converted into the coronavirus hotline. The company’s call centre activity was almost completely discontinued due to the situation, and therefore, Issta provided about 80 computerized workstations for MDA, along with all the technical and logistical services the company provided for the matter. Another call centre was opened in the Shimon Peres school in Kiryat Ono, which was also converted to an MDA call centre, with all classrooms becoming call centre rooms and in each room up to 10 volunteers staying within 2 meters of each other, as the Health Ministry requires.

MDA Director General Eli Bin: “Due to the sharp increase in calls, MDA is preparing quickly to open more centres at various locations around the country to provide the best response to the public, while maintaining professionalism and dedication. We thank all the bodies that have provided the means to meet the demand and to best serve the citizens of Israel. “

MDA IS WORKING ON VACCINE FOR CORONAVIRUS

As part of the project, MDA will collect plasma units from those recovered from Corona in order to treat the severely ill. This is based on the assumption that those who have recovered from the disease have developed special anti-virus proteins (antibodies) in their plasma. These units provide patients with a “passive vaccine” that may help them cope with the disease.
Plasma with antibodies has previously been used, for example, in the treatment of patients with SARS during the outbreak in 2002 and in Israel similar treatment has been previously given to patients with West Nile fever. This week, the FDA approved a similar protocol in the US.
MDA Deputy Director General- Blood Services, Prof. Eilat Shinar: “those who have recovered from Coronavirus will be invited to donate plasma by a special method (Pheresis method) where only donor plasma is collected, and all other blood components are returned to him. This method has been in use at MDA’s Blood Services over 30 years and thousands of volunteers donate blood this way every day. In the first phase, the plasma units will be used to treat by transfusion, but the goal is to collect enough plasma to prepare antibody (immunoglobulin) concentrate with which patients will be treated later. Of course, anyone who is invited to donate a plasma must meet the Health Ministry’s criteria and requirements for donating blood.
Plasma collection can only be done after 14 days have passed after their full recovery and these days the Ministry of Health in contact with those who have recovered to transfer their details to Magen David Adom.
The project is expected to begin in the coming days and will be carried out in the Pheresis Unit at MDA’s Blood Services Centre, at the Tel Hashomer complex.

Coronavirus Update

A quick update on how your support is helping Magen David Adom fight the coronavirus in Israel:
 
Key Stats
Magen David Adom has performed more than 8,571 at-home tests.
As of March 17th, 280 Israelis have tested positive for the disease.
MDA has tripled its call-taking capacity in response to deluge of calls about coronavirus. MDA is taking more than 80,000 calls a day from concerned Israelis about coronavirus — 74,000 calls more than usual and answered on average in 10 seconds. Read full story> 

MDA to roll out drive-through coronavirus tests, increase screening by 1,900%. Individuals would drive up to large medical tents placed strategically across the country and be swabbed without having to leave their car Read full story>

Medical students will double the number of sample takers across the country. Approximately 700 medical students from five faculties across Israel, who are in the clinical phase of their studies, joined the national effort in preventing the spread of the coronavirus in Israel. After training, they will join the 800 MDA paramedics who are already taking samples across the country. Read full story>

Reading these stories about how Magen David Adom is leading the way to battle the coronavirus is inspiring beyond words. And it’s your support that has enabled MDA’s paramedics and EMTs to respond to coronavirus so efficiently and effectively. We will continue to keep you updated.

MDA urgently needs your support to deal with this unprecedented demand for protective medical equipment, dispatch operators, virus testing supplies and all of the other resources required to meet the daily emergency response needs of the 9 million people living in Israel.

Click here to donate now.

MDA currently run 1,168 Life Saving Vehicles