MDA went beyond the call of duty during war

By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH
During the 33 days of the war, Magen David Adom teams in the North were called to 1,479 events - with the last day the most intensive at 101 calls. A total of 1,004 ambulance runs and 197 dispatches of mobile intensive care units brought medical teams to civilians and soldiers wounded by rockets and missiles inside Israel and at the battlefront. MDA said after the cease-fire that it had treated and evacuated 2,591 people and removed the bodies of 134 dead - 42 civilians and 92 soldiers. They also treated and evacuated 70 seriously wounded civilians and soldiers, 115 people with moderate wounds and 807 who were lightly hurt. In addition, they treated 1,465 people who were not physically injured but suffered anxiety attacks; they were taken to hospital emergency rooms and to special trauma centers in the North. MDA collected 32,000 units of blood that were supplied to hospitals for treatment of wounded soldiers and civilians. Some 6,000 volunteers took turns boosting the capability of MDA staffers during the war. The voluntary first-aid, ambulance and blood supply organization simultaneously went out of its way to proffer humanitarian aid to residents living in underground shelters. MDA staffers and volunteers visited them during the rocket attacks and tried to alleviate their fears. They also distributed thousands of food parcels and toys and gave out 500 first-aid kits, providing instruction on how to use them. They also paid calls to the chronically ill and elderly holed up in shelters and provided medical care to those who needed it. Teenage volunteers also picked fruit in orchards abandoned by regular workers.