Magen David Adom, Israel’s only national medical emergency and blood service, has been reaffirmed as the country’s sole first responder dispatchers by the Ministry of Health.

In a move that will vastly improve the lifesaving ability of Israel’s emergency medical services, all calls to the ‘1-0-1’ emergency number will be handled through MDA’s state of the art command and control centre. On taking a call, MDA will then coordinate the dispatch from its own fleet of 1,100 ambulances and 6,500 first responders (with more than 600 on MDA Medicycles), as well as first responders from the 16 independent Hatzalah organisations. This will ensure that the closest five first responders will be automatically notified of the incident through MDA’s advanced tracking and geo-locating technology.

Speaking after the Ministry of Health showed its confidence in MDA, Director General Eli Bin commented,

Ministry of Health confirms MDA as Israel’s First Response organisation

“With the implementation of this ministry ruling, Israelis only need to call Magen David Adom’s emergency dispatch number, 1-0-1, to be assured that the nearest five first responders will be sent to scene quickly.” 

165 of the medicycles active in service have been donated by supporters of Magen David Adom UK (with 70 donated as part of the ’70-for-70’ campaign in 2018), along with much funding to the Command & Control Centre.

Daniel Burger, CEO of MDA UK said,

“The decision to unify all medical emergency first response under the direction of Magen David Adom is not only a huge endorsement of the incredible work of our lifesavers in Israel but also a move that will ensure no uncertainty amongst the Israeli public regarding who to call to ensure lives are saved.”