Friday, July 25, 1980 1 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS 50 Years of Magen David Adorn Services r TEL AVIV — Half-a century ago, in the early days of June, 1930 seven men banded together in Tel first aid Aviv to form society. The new society was named Magen David Adorn, after a military volunteer unit that thrived briefly in the closing months of World War I. It occupied the site of a small former flower shop and boasted an ambulance corps consisting of exactly ne vehicle — a Chevrolet hassis with a locally built body. This year Magen David Adorn, Israel's Na- tional Red Cross celebrates this auspicious beginning and a half-century of heroic service. The anniversary was highlighted by a national convention and tour to Is- rael and Egypt in June, ac- cording to Joseph Handle- man, president of the American Red Magen David for Israel. The U.S. group celebrates its own 40th anniversary this year. The young MDA's most important contribution was made by doctors who taught the public first aid, disease and accident prevention and public hygiene. It condensed this information in a first aid manual written by Dr. Arieh Aletin (today this manual is in its 16th He- brew edition, and other editions in . Arabic, French and English). a In following years, MDA grew steadily. In 1933 a Jerusalem branch was es- tablished. A year later a branch was founded in Haifa. In December, 1935 the original Tel Aviv branch built a new home that was the first building in Palestine designed as a first aid station. In the Arab riots of 1936 and 1937, Magen David Adorn organized to aid the casualties. MDA served as the medical corps of the Hagana and provided doc- tors, stretcher bearers, first aid medics and equipment. It furnished threatened set- tlements with supplies from its Tel Aviv warehouse. The Magen David Adorn Blood Donors Association was credited with saving hun- dreds of lives. In World War II, Magen David Adorn again an- swered the call. In 1940 Tel Aviv was attacked re- peatedly by Italian and German aircraft. MDA set up 14 temporary first aid stations. In helping the wounded, MDA volunteers were themselves wounded (an Italian bomb that exploded next to MDA headquarters killed two children). Accelerated courses in first aid were organized by MDA in all parts of the country. Meanwhile, male MDA volunteers who had enlisted in the British army were replaced by new recruits, mostly young women. In Tel Aviv the volunteer corps. swelled to 800 members with 20 new mobile first aid units. At the outset of the War of Independence, Magen David Adorn distributed medical supplies and first aid equipment to be- leaguered settlements. Blood banks were estab- lished in several cities. After the 1948 terrorist at- tacks in Jerusalem, MDA sprang into action, tending the woulded and supplying badly needed blood. Magen David Adorn con- stituted the medical corps of the new Israel Defense Forces, providing trained orderlies, nurses and equipment. When Jerusalem was cut off from the rest of the Jewish state, MDA organized convoys to bring medicine and food from Tel Aviv and Haifa. During the wars against Israel, MDA has provided mobile clinics for the care of wounded prisoners of war and sent clothing and food to Israeli POWs in Arab countries. It provided medi- cal help and food to Arab refugees in a repatriation program that continues today under the Family Re- union Plan. It supplied hos- pitals and transmitted fam- ily messages in the ad- ministered territories. Today MDA has 125 branches throughout Is- rael. The ambulance fleet has 700 vehicles. MDA maintains blood banks in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa and Tiberias. It supplies all the blood for transfusions re- quired by the Israel Defense Forces and two-thirds of the demand by the nation's hos- pitals. In addition to maintain- ing 125 emergency ambu- lance posts it also has 40 casualty stations and 5,000 volunteers man the ambu- lance stations. • BURGLAR ALARMS NEW COMPUTERIZED SECURITY EQUIPMENT ALLSTATE ALARM SYSTEMS I NC Thousands of satisfied customers CALL THE 255-1540 ROTT BROS MARTY CY SHEL 17534 W. 7 MILE, DETROIT LICENSED BY MICH. DEPT. OF STATE POLICE (_ 1980 R.J. REYNOLDS TOBACCO CO. :..g ommiom.;:wmanogo.ft 'f:iimmsno> o goommrft * * * Greek El Al Passenger Is Treated by MDA Team TEL AVIV — A passenger on an El Al Air- line New York - Tel Aviv - Athens flight was treated recently for five hours at Ben-Gurion Air- port for severe cardiac dis- turbances by a special Magen David Adorn (MDA) mobile intensive care medi- cal team which then accom- panied the patient on his flight from Tel Aviv to Athens to continue treat- ment. A Greek passenger de- veloped chest pains on the first leg of the flight and at the request of El Al was met at Ben-Gurion Airport by the special MDA team. The man's family refused to permit his evacuation to a hospital and the medical team continued to treat him, keeping him alive for five hours at the crowded airport, while officials negotiated with the family. In order to break the im- passe, MDA Director Gen- eral Amizur Kfir ordered the team to accompany the patient on the flight to Athens, along with all of the necessary medical equip- ID 4 ment. The patient arrived in Athens in stable condi- tion, six hours after landing in Tel Aviv. Israeli Profs Join Seminary Staff for Year NEW YORK — Three Is- raeli professors will join the faculty of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America for the academic year 1980-81. Profs. Isaiah Gafni and Yitzhak Gilat of Bar-Ilan University and Yosef Gorni of Tel Aviv University were chosen by the seminary. Saudi City Gets University NEW YORK — A $2.5 billion university is being planned for the Saudi Ara- bian city of Riyadh, accord- ing to the American Jewish Congress. Construction of the uni- versity, which is expected to serve some 15,000 students, will be undertaken by a French-American consor- tium of construction firms. ::A CAS_; ES Crisp refreshing taste in a lowtar. Salem Lights Warning : The Surgeon General Has. Determined That Cigarette Smoking Is Dangerous to Your Health. mn nicotine. ay. oer c_i_o_arette. FaL.Jort DEC. 79