Abigail Klein Leichman
December 14, 2017

A Magen David Adom (MDA) delegation recently went to the Philippines to train instructors for emergency medicine teams on dealing with mass casualty incidents.

MDA, Israel’s national ambulance, blood-services and disaster-relief organization, has been collaborating for more than two years with the Philippine Red Cross in order to strengthen lifesaving capabilities and emergency response in the Asian island country.

The Philippines is prone to typhoons, volcanos, earthquakes as well as armed conflicts, which require a high level of skilled medical and rescue forces.

“Over the past few years, the Philippines Red Cross has been able to improve, with the help of MDA’s professional trainings, their emergency response system that aims to provide response to disasters,” said Menachem Blumental, senior MDA paramedic and one of the instructors in the delegation. “During the last mission, we worked on improving preparedness and management of mass casualty incidents.”

The training was led by the Philippine Red Cross in collaboration with MDA, the Israeli Foreign Ministry, the Israeli Embassy in the Philippines and the American Red Cross.

A simulated mass traffic accident was part of an MDA training session for Philippine EMS instructors. Photo courtesy of MDA Spokesman

A mass traffic accident simulation in Batangas was led by graduates of two EMT courses taught by instructors who were trained by MDA last year. It was the first drill of its kind in the city.

“Dealing with mass casualty incidents for many years, unfortunately, has granted MDA with expertise, and we are ready to share that knowledge anywhere in the world where there’s interest in saving lives,” said MDA Director General Eli Bin. “The value of saving lives is our main mission and it has no borders.”

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