MDA israel

Two pieces of academic research undertaken by Magen David Adom will be presented this week at an international conference on emergency medicine being held in Israel. Both pieces relate in some way to the Covid-19 pandemic and effects it had both on the general population as well as on MDA staff. 

The first piece of research reflects on the number of activations for Anaphylactic reactions that occurred during the pandemic. The research team, led by Dr. Evan Avraham Alpert looked at different calls and how their rates were affected throughout the waves of Covid in 2020 and 2021, with many EMS providers worldwide showing a general decrease in overall activation numbers, but an increase in certain types of calls. This study looked particularly at activations for cases of anaphylaxis, to determine how the pandemic affected these numbers specifically. 

The second piece of research looked at Magen David Adom's medicycle response teams, in particular the volunteers. The study examined how the pandemic affected the number of calls voluntarily attended by the motorcyclist on-call volunteer first responders (MOCVFR). This research was led by Aaron Adler who is an MDA paramedic, a volunteer first responder himself, as well as a medical student. The study looked at the changes to the response levels of volunteers, taking into account the increased risk as well as fear of responding to calls with a high-risk of exposure to Covid-19. 

Magen David Adom staff and volunteers have published many academic papers and research, and the links with academia are constantly being strengthened, including the recent affiliation to Ben Gurion University in the Negev, making MDA the first ambulance service in the world to have such an affiliation with a well-renowned university.