More than 300 healthcare professionals gathered at Magen David Adom’s headquarters in Ramla for a conference on pre-hospital resuscitation. The event, which was organized in collaboration with the American Heart Association, brought together MDA’s medical and training teams with experts from Israel’s leading hospitals, HMOs, and other essential emergency services, such as the police, fire, and prison agencies.
The conference featured live demonstrations using advanced CPR techniques and there was a simulated resuscitation with ECMO technology. Participants had the opportunity to explore MDA’s state-of-the-art rescue vehicles, such as a seven-bed Mobile Intensive Care Unit. In addition to the presentations and demonstrations, attendees went on guided tours of the Marcus National Blood Services Center and the Sussman Family Foundation Human Milk Bank.
With a focus on new medical technologies, training, and real-life applications, this conference showcased MDA’s leadership in pre-hospital care and its ongoing efforts to improve survival rates through collaboration and innovation.
A highlight of the conference was the emotional reunion between Haim, a 72-year-old man who had suffered cardiac arrest and the team who resuscitated him.
MDA Director-General Eli Bin expressed his gratitude to MDA’s conference partners for making this event possible. “This joint professional conference is crucial for enhancing medical care and saving lives, both in Israel and globally,” he said.
Speakers from different facets of the medical world presented at the conference. MDA’s Ido Rosenblatt highlighted the latest in life-saving technology such as T-CPR. He also spoke about MDA’s state-of-the-art emergency call centers. Dr. Brian Grunau of the American Heart Association presented on the development of pre-hospital resuscitation guidelines; Dr. Daniel Trotzki of the Shamir Medical Center discussed defibrillator use and the chain of survival for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest; Dr. Oren Wacht of Ben-Gurion University gave a talk on integrating ultrasound in CPR; Dr. Reodor Greenberg of Shamir Medical Center spoke on the use of ECMO devices in pre-hospital settings; and Dr. Boaz Kalmovitz of Maccabi Healthcare Services discussed resuscitation protocols in community medicine. The conference was organized by Eliaz Mor, MDA’s director of training and Dr. Raphael Strogo, deputy medical director of MDA.
For the past 16 years, MDA has served as an international training center for the American Heart Association and has led trainings to make their guidance accessible to all Israelis.
“MDA is the leader in the field of resuscitation, working in cooperation with the HMOs, hospitals, the American Heart Association, and other medical bodies.” said Dr. Strogo and Dr. Baruch Berson, medical director of MDA’s emergency center and a Jerusalem-area doctor. “We are pleased that despite the war, we were able to hold this important conference and bring together people from across the medical world to push for more excellence in this area.”
