Joint training for Magen David Adom and the Jordanian Red Crescent

Magen David Adom staff and volunteers have recently completed a joint training exercise with the Jordanian Red Crescent on the management of international humanitarian assistance in large scale disasters.

The African – Syrian quake is a seismically active fault, that causes a major earthquake in the region in cycles of about 150 years (the last one in 1837 destroyed Sefad). This is why preparedness to mitigate the results of a major earthquake is one of the priorities for MDA in Israel. Being part of the Red Cross National Society, MDA has the commitment to meet the humanitarian needs of the affected population. This is a task MDA and the Jordanian Red Crescent share. Under this frame of shared values and humanitarian mandate, MDA and the JRC have an ongoing cooperation. Its recent outcome was in a joint training conducted in Eilot (near Eilat) on April 15th-19th.

The objective of this training was to prepare and manage international humanitarian assistance in the case of a large disaster. The participants had to plan the response to 18,000 tourists stranded in Eilat and the 40,000 inhabitants of the city living with limited supply of water, little food and no electricity. The training was facilitated by highly experienced personnel from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the International Federation of the Red Cross, the American and German Red Cross.

The closing ceremony was hosted by the mayor of Eilat in the city hall. Also present was His Excellency Dr. Mohamed Al Hadid, the President of the Jordanian Red Crescent, His Excellency Mr. Daniel Nevo, the Israeli Ambassador in Jordan, Mr. Juan Pedro Schaerer, the head of the ICRC delegation in Israel and Dr. Noam Yifrach, Chairman of the MDA executive committee.

The MDA Director General commented on the importance of preparing for a major earthquake, whilst Mr. Bin pointed out that MDA will face a major challenge in the event of an earthquake, providing emergency medical care, blood units and assisting the affected population. By training its staff and volunteers and using the International network of the Red Cross Movement, MDA is continuously working to keep its high professional level and readiness in the area of humanitarian assistance, knowledge that we hope will only be used to support affected populations overseas.