Israel at war: Thousands respond to MDA’s blood drive

Thousands of Israelis have flocked to donation centers, responding to Magen David Adom (MDA)’s call for blood donations, leading to an unexpected and tremendous turnout.

The sheer volume has prompted MDA, Israel’s national emergency medical service, to temporarily request donors to halt their efforts. The requests have been publicized due to hundreds-of-Israelis who have been hospitalized, as result of a number of terrorist attacks on Saturday. 

In an official statement, MDA said on Saturday, “Due to a tremendous overload of people wanting to donate blood, we request to stop coming for now. We will notify you later when it will be possible to come and donate blood again.” The statement further highlighted that starting from 10:30, the blood services of MDA began their blood donation initiative, urging especially those with type O blood, as well as donors of all other blood types, to participate.

MDA has provided a list of updated venues for blood donation:

• Tel Aviv: Sourasky Medical Center
• Jerusalem: MDA station at 7 HaMem Gimel St.
• Haifa: MDA station located at 34 Yitzhak Sade St.
• Tiberias: MDA station at 1 Kishon St.
• Tel Hashomer: MDA’s dedicated blood services unit in the Tel Hashomer hospital

For information, please visit the MDA website.