Hundreds of additional doctors will be serving as first responders with the Magen David Adom (MDA) emergency medical response service in northern Israel as tensions continue to rise along the border with Lebanon.
The “Doctors on Call” project, known as “Project Magen” was launched following a visit by Shas Health Minister Uriel Busso and MDA Director-General Eli Bin to the northern Druze village of Majdal Shams, where a Hezbollah rocket attack recently killed 12 children and wounded dozens of others.
Under the project, hundreds of additional doctors will serve as MDA first responders in case of emergencies and will be able to handle serious and complex cases. The doctors, acting as rapid response team members, will be dispatched by the MDA national response center with the goal of strengthening medical response in the area and reducing the response times for life-saving medical treatment.
Dozens of advanced resuscitation kits for clinic doctors are also being distributed across northern Israel.
The project is expected to eventually cover the entire country.
“We started this important initiative in the north and will extend it throughout the country,” Busso said.
“As an EMT for many years, I understood the critical need of ensuring hundreds of doctors with advanced equipment to provide initial treatment and serve as MDA responders.”
Bin added that at Busso’s request, MDA has been working to strengthen community medical teams in the north and “provide them with the best tools to save lives when needed.”
