In a new interview with Israel’s Channel 13, Dr. Eilat Shinar, Director of Magen David Adom’s Blood Services division, speaks about maintaining a state of blood-supply preparedness in Israel as well as the critical role MDA plays in saving the lives of IDF members who have lost blood.
Coming out of the period of the Jewish holidays this past fall, Israel’s blood supply was low when Hamas attacked on October 7. In response, MDA launched a mass blood drive in secure hospital sites. After blood is collected, it is available for use after approximately a day and a half of processing in MDA’s Marcus National Blood Services Center.
In the interview, Dr. Shinar describes MDA’s important role in saving the lives of injured IDF service members. MDA supplies all of the blood needed by the IDF and is now providing the “full blood” right in the field. MDA-trained paramedics and doctors are equipped with medicine, dried plasma, and full blood, greatly decreasing the number of deaths in the battlefield due to blood loss from 14% to less than 7%. Remarks Dr. Shinar in the interview, “All of these things resulted in a decline in mortality.”
