JUNE 27 • 2024 | 15
been staggering. AFMDA typ-
ically secures between 75-100
ambulance sponsorships a year.
In 2023, they secured 406.
Being prepared for whatever
may come, even if MDA doesn’t
necessarily know what it is, will
be wholly important for the
future — whether that’s through
increased volunteers, blood ser-
vices and/or a fleet of vehicles
that will enable them to respond
quickly.
THE MAGEN PROJECT
The events of Oct. 7 created a
new challenge in emergency
care not experienced previously
in Israel on a wide-scale basis.
While MGA responded quickly,
the ferocity of the fighting and
difficulty in breaking through
war zones to reach patients
clearly identified an urgent need
to be addressed. The Magen
Project has been developed to
meet that need.
The Magen Project is struc-
tured to provide locally based
medical equipment, supplies
and trained volunteers neces-
sary to meet the emergency
medical needs of communities
when immediate response from
outside the community is not
available.
As learned from IDF and
MDA reports, many of the
victims of Oct. 7 died from
bleeding out after sustaining
what would have been other-
wise recoverable injuries. Thus,
the ability to treat patients in
multi-casualty events within the
community itself could result
in the saving of lives otherwise
destined to be lost.
“Whether caused by war,
whether caused by earthquakes,
if there are communities that
are shut off, we will know that
those communities have a way
to respond — at least in the ini-
tial stage until we can get ambu-
lances there for evacuations
or whatever else is required,
”
Myers explains.
The program is currently in
the initial stage, and 60 munici-
palities throughout the country
are participating in the project.
The target in phase one is to
establish 1,000 Magen Project
teams across the country.
Several families who attended
the event agreed to contrib-
ute to making a “Community
Emergency Response Team”
from the Metro Detroit Jewish
community possible.
Max and Caryn Emmer are
leading the way among our
community’s “NEXTGen”
members to send $120 first-
aid kits to Israel as part of
the Magen Project. They’ve
launched the website afmda.
securesweet.com/metrodetroit,
and the first 20 first-aid kits will
also be matched.
To learn more about this program or
to contribute to its success, reach out
to Stacy Carroll at scarroll@afmda.org
or (248) 522-0420.
Yaakov Katz, Israeli-American
author, journalist and former
editor-in-chief of the Jerusalem
Post, spoke at the event.
Nearly 50 attendees came
to show their support for
Magen David Adom.
PUZZLE ANSWERS
Solution to puzzle in 6/20/24 issue.
1. Schelp
2. Chutzpah
3. Heimish
4. Essen