Magen David Adom: A vision of dedication, determination to save lives
(An excerpt from The Jerusalem Post) — In the decades that Eli Bin, director-general of Magen David Adom, has been leading the organization, the pandemic has been one of MDA’s most significant challenges. The national fight against the spread of the Covid-19 virus “caught” MDA ready and prepared for any challenge created by the new and complex reality.
Eli Bin: MDA’s many years of preparation, the response to a variety of emergency incidents, and the organization’s ability to adapt quickly to dynamic situations, to learn from experience, while continuing to develop methods and means to increase efficiency, all of these together enable us to meet the most complex challenges at the national level.
JPost: What are the routine challenges that have become more acute during the Covid-19 pandemic?
EB: Naturally, MDA’s routine is an emergency routine; therefore, we are required to continuously maintain the high level of qualifications and skills of the staff members and the various means to respond to emergencies, security escalations, and other challenges. Our routine activities present us with many challenges, which vary over the years…
As MDA trains all the paramedics in Israel, promoting the paramedic profession is a big challenge, and in recent years, we have increased the number of paramedics thus changing the face of emergency medicine in Israel….
JPost: What is MDA’s main challenge today?
EB: One of our main challenges in the field of emergency medical services is providing personalized medical treatment to each and every patient, using advanced technology. This is actually the future of medicine. In the past, every call to MDA would result in the evacuation of the patient to the hospital. Due to the overload at the hospitals’ emergency departments and MDA’s ability to use advanced technology, we have created the MDA in the Community Project, which aims to make the services of the emergency medicine department and medical specialists available to all …
MDA emergency teams will be equipped to provide remote medical assistance and the means to perform blood tests at the patient’s home. Upon arrival to the scene, the EMTs will be able to consult with a specialist in the field, and according to the findings, the specialist can determine the course of treatment, which sometimes includes keeping the patient at home, instead of hospitalization.
JPost: MDA is known for its capital human resource — the volunteers. Tell us about them.
EB: MDA was established by a group of volunteers 92 years ago. Volunteers play an essential role, not only in the organization, but also in shaping the face of Israeli society as a whole. One of the main emphases in volunteering at MDA is professional equality: there is no difference between a volunteer and a paid employee.
I believe the sense of responsibility, along with their ability to perform under stress with such dedication, enables the volunteers to acquire values they will carry with them for the rest of their lives … Today, MDA is the largest volunteer organization in Israel, with tens of thousands of volunteers, from the age of 15 to the age of 82.
Read the full interview on The Jerusalem Post>>