Amid Coronavirus, Chabad Outreach to Magen David Adom

By Mendy Kurant

Magen David Adom, is Israel’s national emergency medical, disaster, ambulance and blood bank service, has been dealing with an increase of calls from citizens seeking details about the Coronavirus.

MDA Director-General Eli Bin: “MDA EMTs and paramedics continue to take samples from patients who are quarantined and have reported symptoms such as fever, cough and shortness of breath, and in accordance with a district physician’s decision, are required by the Department of Health to have a sample taken to be tested.”

Bin added, “We urge the public to use the app and acquire the initial information they need. This will help to make the information easily and quickly accessible, and also to relieve the burden at the Dispatch Center, which is required in order to continue routine life-saving activities.”

As a public service, Magen David Adom launches a digital questionnaire within the ‘My MDA’ app. By answering the questionnaire, every citizen can understand what the correct guidelines are for him, and how he should behave and conduct himself regarding the issue of the Coronavirus.

The computerized questionnaire will ask questions such as: Did you stay abroad and in what country?, or do you have fever or any other symptoms? Depending on the answers, the app automatically directs the caller to the MDA 101 Emergency Call Center, or alternatively, to continue his routine.

“In the last few days, we received tens of thousands of inquiries every day from citizens asking about the Coronavirus. We have mapped out the questions that concern the public, and created a comprehensive Q&A bank. The user enter the app, and answer the structured questions aimed at diagnosing whether he is at risk of becoming infected with Corona or not,” said Ido Rosenblat, MDA’s communications department manager.

One of their employees, Rabbi Yonasan Spitzer, decided to launch a Chabad branch at MDA, in cooperation with the organization Ohr Lachayal, to keep up the spirits of the overworked EMTs and call center workers.

Ahead of Purim, Spitzer took an ambulance and visited some 10 MDA centers in Jerusalem and other cities, distributing Mishloach Manos and encouraging words who are working round the clock.