The Beijing Olympics have ended, but Magen David Adom's "Lifesaving Olympics" are about to begin.
An MDA ambulance.
Photo: MDA
The four-day event, starting on September 7 at Kibbutz Ein Gedi and Dimona, is expected to attract 180 medics and paramedics from Israel and 12 other countries.
The first MDA Olympics, initiated by MDA director-general Eli Bin and medical division director Dr. Zvi Feigenberg, took place in 2006 around the Kinneret and the Western Galilee. But this year's competition will bring more medical teams - 40 - from more countries and will open on the top of Masada.
The competitions are aimed at testing the professionalism and capabilities of the medical teams - in saving lives. Medics and paramedics from MDA, the IDF and international emergency services from Turkey, Canada, Ireland, England, Holland, Norway, the US, Germany, the Czech Republic, France, Jordan and Poland will participate.
On the two consecutive days, the teams will go through 11 stations of treatment and safety, including one at night, during which they will have to deal with various scenes that will test their capabilities for giving proper treatment responses, medical response for "victims" of a mass casualty incident, treatment for conventional and non-conventional incidents and also giving life-saving treatment to patients and victims with problems in the fields of trauma, cardiology, pediatrics and respiratory emergencies. The judges will measure, estimate and grade the capabilities and professional expertise of the competitors in the different categories.
This year there will also be a number of difficult stations where the contestants will have to show their determination, physical fitness and ability to work under difficult conditions.
