Volunteers Explained
Magen David Adom has over 26,000 volunteers. Out of these volunteers, 14,000 are adolescents between the ages of 15 and 18 and 12,000 are adults between the ages of 18 and 75. The volunteers are active in providing medical care to patients whether that be on an ambulance, in an MDA station, or at a blood drive. Annually, participants complete over a million hours of volunteering, accounting for a third of the organization’s work in society.
The great importance of the volunteers is particularly significant in multi-casualty incidents. During such events, the volunteers reach the site of the incident within minutes and assist the teams in treating and evacuating casualties. This powerful and efficient force has proven itself repeatedly during terror attacks occurring in Israel during recent years.
MDA volunteers have received awards on numerous occasions, including the President's Award for Volunteering in 1976 and once again in 1998, the year of Israel's Jubilee. In addition, MDA volunteers have won the Minister of Labor and Welfare Award in 1998, the Speaker of the Knesset Award in 1989, and the Minister of Health's Award in 1999. These awards reflect some of the appreciation endowed upon MDA volunteers for their activity within the community in Israel.
