Magen David Adom Emergency Response: 1.9M Calls in War

Israel's national emergency medical service, Magen David Adom (MDA), has released its annual statistics for the Hebrew year 5786, revealing the scope of operations during twelve months dominated by war and continuous security threats.

The figures paint a picture of an emergency response system operating at unprecedented intensity, with tens of thousands of staff members and volunteers maintaining life-saving services across the country even while working under fire. Behind the raw numbers lies a network of responders who kept the nation's emergency medical infrastructure functioning through some of the most challenging conditions in Israel's history.

MDA teams responded to 1,911,412 emergency incidents throughout the year—averaging one response every 16.5 seconds. The organization's 101 emergency hotline received 2,020,218 calls, representing one call every 15.9 seconds, with an average answer time of just two seconds.

The organization operates with approximately 39,200 volunteers, employees, and national service participants, including roughly 16,500 youth volunteers alongside some 18,000 "Life Guardians", dedicated volunteers who contributed over 6.3 million volunteer hours. The average age of volunteers stands at 26.8, with the oldest active volunteer being 92 years old from Ness Ziona, while the youngest are 14.

MDA's emergency infrastructure includes 213 stations and response points, operating a fleet of 652 motorcycles, 275 rapid response vehicles, 50 of them electric, and 117 four-wheel-drive ambulances and mobile intensive care units. The fleet also includes 104 armored ambulances, mobile ICUs and command vehicles, five mobile intensive care buses, 17 all-terrain vehicles, and 27 mass casualty incident station vehicles.

MDA-Hatzalah (Southern areas), MDA- Ashdod, Lachish region (Courtesy of the photographer)

On water, the ambulance boat on the Sea of Galilee and the ambulance boat in Eilat responded to 153 incidents.

MDA's ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) unit treated nine patients, five of whom were connected to heart-lung machines in the field.

Teams provided medical treatment to 67,624 road accident victims and treated 229 adults and children who were pulled from water after drowning incidents.

Approximately 500,000 citizens participated in over 17,000 CPR and first aid courses, while the medical division certified 401 new paramedics. Through the "Magen" project for civilian preparedness, 17,804 citizens have been trained—1,322 of them this year—to provide initial response in isolated communities. Teams transported 18,727 pregnant women to hospitals, with 1,399 giving birth with crew assistance in the field or en route, supported by 97 newly trained on-call midwives.

Blood services collected 281,917 blood units, including 46,407 from first-time donors, with 9,541 whole blood units supplied to security forces and hospitals. The National Breast Milk Bank supplied approximately 5,700 liters of milk for premature and ill infants, with assistance from roughly 370 new donors.

The Wish Ambulance fulfilled 128 wishes for critically ill patients, and the organization's five helicopters evacuated 264 patients and wounded individuals.

The statistics reflect a year of continuous operation in which Israel's national rescue system demonstrated its capacity to function under all field conditions and reach every location in the country. The volunteers and staff, working around the clock, continued saving lives even during the war's most difficult hours.