Every year during the Tishrei Yomim Tovim, MDA registers a sharp increase in the amount of emergency calls to its 101 emergency line. In order to provide emergency response rapidly and instantly, thousands of MDA employees and volunteers will be on standby, ready to instantly respond to emergency calls and save lives. MDA has finalized its preparedness towards Rosh Hashanah, and the organization’s emergency teams are prepared to tend to a variety of emergencies during the holiday.

As part of MDA’s preparation for Rosh Hashanah, shifts will be enhanced with additional manpower including EMTs, paramedics with many being volunteers. Thousands of MDA EMTs and paramedics will be on standby, prepared to provide emergency medical response rapidly and professionally to anyone who requires it. Additionally, MDA standby first responders will be davening in many shuls across Israel. They will be geared with MDA first aid kits that include defibrillators, ready to provide medical treatment to anyone in and around the shul. MDA helicopters, in Northern and Southern Israel, will also be on standby along with hundreds of Medi-Cycles and the rest of MDA’s rescue vehicles.

MDA teams manning shifts during the holidays will be able to fulfill the mitzvos of the day, including Shofar of course. They will do so with the assistance of their coworkers who will blow the Shofar for those manning stations across Israel.

MDA calls on the tzibur to adhere to the following safety guidelines for the Yomim Tovim:

• MDA calls shuls to prepare an emergency cell phone prior for Yomtov, which will remain in the shul allowing mispallalim to call MDA for help using the 101 emergency line or the “My MDA” mobile app, enabling users to call MDA with a single click of a button. The EMTs and paramedics at the MDA dispatch center will automatically retrieve the precise location from which the app-call emanated.
• Do not allow children to swim in pools without adult supervision. Children who do not know how to swim must use floats.
• Make sure to keep children away from high windows of other high places from which they could fall.
• Do not leave children in parked cars even for a few minutes. While running errands for the holiday and with your return from holiday dinners – make sure all children get out of the vehicle. Pay special attention to children who tend to fall asleep in the car.

Pay attention to children being hosted in unfamiliar environments (such as homes of family and friends) that could be dangerous. For examples, uncaged windows and unfamiliar streets.

• Israeli roads are crowded with families driving to and from holiday dinners during late hours. Make sure to freshen up before leaving on a long ride, avoid alcohol consumption before getting in the car, and if the driver is tired – pull over safely, rest and freshen up.
• Avoid inhaling cleaning agents that could cause poisoning, or using agents that include strong and a sharp burning sensation. In that case, rinse the area with warm, running acids. Careless use of such agents could cause burns. Burns are characterized by blisters water and call MDA using the 101 emergency line.
• Cleaning fish for the yomtov dinner – be careful of infections cause by fish bones. This kind of infection obligates medical treatment with antibiotics. Hurry and call MDA at 101 and adhere to the instructions of the EMTs and paramedics at the dispatch center.
• Make sure to not let children under the age of five consume fish served during the holiday as bones may be hiding in it. If you do serve children fish, make sure to carefully clean it of all bones.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)