Magen David Adom (MDA) National Blood Services
MDA Blood Services are responsible by MDA law (1950) for the collection, processing, testing and supply of blood units and components to all the hospitals in Israel and to the IDF.
The Blood Services is responsible for the professional training of 150 phlebotomists and employs 138 laboratory technicians and medical staff that handle some 263,000 blood units yearly, donated by non-paid volunteers. About 92% are collected by MDA Mobile Blood Units in schools, factories, community centers and army camps, and the rest - in fixed donor rooms located at MDA stations nationwide.
Every blood unit is processed into components (red blood cells, plasma, cryoprecipitate and platelets), which are intended to treat at least 3 different patients.
All donations are tested for blood type (ABO, Rh), detection of irregular antibodies to red cell antigens and identification of transfusion-transmitted diseases such as Hepatitis B, C, HIV 1/2, HTLV and Syphilis by very sensitive tests. About 500,000 blood units and components are supplied yearly to all the hospitals in Israel, thus making MDA the supplier of 100% of the hospitals' and of the IDF needs for blood.
In addition, some 40,000 liters of surplus plasma are supplied to the Plasma Fractionation, for the preparation of medicines such as Intravenous gamma-globulin.
A major task of MDA and the Blood Services management is to plan the building of the New Blood Services Center, which will operate in a safe and protected manner, to secure the country's needs for adequate and best quality blood in peace and in times of emergencies during man –made and natural disasters.
Recently MDA Blood Services received the 4 gold stars award for 2018, for Excellency and Quality in the Public services in Israel, named after the late Prime Minister-Mr. Itzhak Rabin. This very prestigious award was given to MDA Blood Services for "managing a system which is based on volunteer blood donors, develops its employees and volunteers while upholding the highest professional standards both during routine and natural or man- made disasters, and encourages team work and the sharing of knowledge. The Blood Services has various cooperation agreements with both civilian organizations and the army, operating in very advanced laboratories and have the highest satisfaction rating among donors, colleagues and blood recipients.
Additional tasks of MDA Blood Services include:
a) The Hemapheresis service which collects platelets concentrates and plasma donations from single donors, and provides therapeutic plasma exchanges.
b) The Israeli National Blood Group Reference Laboratory - which supports the hospitals’ blood-banks in identifying patients with rare blood subtypes and provide them with blood units from the regular or frozen units inventory.
c) Reference laboratory for further identification and diagnosis of viral liver diseases.
d) The national public cord blood bank, responsible for the collection, processing and storage of Stem Cell units for the benefit of patients who undergo transplantation in Israel and abroad.
e) National Human Milk Bank of Israel - Human milk confers health benefits of vital importance for the sick and premature infants, who are at 6-10 times higher risk for life-threatening situations if they do not receive human milk. Preterm births in Israel are increasing every year, and preemies and fragile infants' survival depends on access to safe human milk that sometimes mothers are unable to provide. Currently, only 60% of them receive human milk at discharge (desired goal is 90%).
The National Human Milk Bank of MDA maintains rigorous standards to ensure the quality and safety of mothers` milk for every baby in need.
The bank is responsible for identifying and recruiting potential and qualified human milk donors, collecting and testing the donated human milk, and ensuring optimal milk processing and pasteurization. MDA Human Milk Bank will also conduct nutritional value analysis and safety of the processed milk, which will be maintained in optimal storage and handling conditions.
The senior staff of MDA Blood Services is involved in teaching Transfusion Medicine in Israeli universities, National and international consulting on Blood Usage in Emergency situation, Blood safety and Transfusion Medicine Policies.
One of MDA priorities is to promote the project of constructing the new, more modern, safe and secure Blood Services Center. This great project became possible due to the support of MDA Friends Societies around the world. The new facility will guarantee the greatest possible protection to the blood processing and inventory storage, and will allow us to respond to the emerging needs of blood on a national level, both in times of peace as well as in man-made or natural national emergencies.
