Eli Bin, Director General of Magen David Adom (MDA): “On October 7, our 101 emergency call center received nearly 22,000 calls, compared to 4,500 on a regular Saturday. We are used to responding within minutes, and we managed to activate all emergency centers – and handle all incidents.”
As early as 6:30 AM on October 7, the Director General of Magen David Adom, Eli Bin, received a phone call informing him of rocket fire to southern Israel. “From past experience, we know that this kind of rocket attack is sometimes a retaliation for an IDF attack in Gaza, which we are notified of via the IDF-MDA coordination mechanism. That morning, there was no early warning or apparent reason for the massive rocket attack,” Bin told Maya Hasson Kraus at the Haaretz Labels Israel Medical Conference, “When the rocket-fire extended to the center of Israel – we realized that something unusual was happening.”
According to Bin, during holidays, festivals and special occasions Magen David Adom is always on high alert, due to many travelers, as part of the preparedness for road accidents or mass casualty incidents, even if the IDF doesn’t provide an early warning for an attack. “Therefore, on that Saturday, we were already at a higher level of preparedness than other emergency services in the country,” he stated.
