Magen David Adom has begun a three-day emergency blood donation campaign. Approximately 24,000 donations are required in Israel each month, but in the past two months, a total of only 43,000 have been received.
Dr. Vered Yahalom, deputy director of MDA's blood services, told Arutz-7 today that MDA turns to the public in special campaigns of this sort only when the blood supplies near the red line: "At this rate, by the end of the week the hospitals will not be able to function regularly - and certainly not if emergency situations occur. In general, we send teams to every place that requests it, whenever and wherever. We realized this week that public awareness had dropped and the situation was critical, and yesterday, we made the final decision to begin this campaign."
Especially lacking are blood types O and Rh-negative. The MDA stations will be open consecutively from 5-10 PM today and tomorrow, and on Friday from 8-1, in Jerusalem, Haifa, Tel Aviv, Be'er Sheva, Tel HaShomer and the Afula bus station. For other times and places, would-be donors can call (in Israel) 1-800-400-101. Every donor receives free blood insurance for a year for himself and his immediate family.
Dr. Vered Yahalom, deputy director of MDA's blood services, told Arutz-7 today that MDA turns to the public in special campaigns of this sort only when the blood supplies near the red line: "At this rate, by the end of the week the hospitals will not be able to function regularly - and certainly not if emergency situations occur. In general, we send teams to every place that requests it, whenever and wherever. We realized this week that public awareness had dropped and the situation was critical, and yesterday, we made the final decision to begin this campaign."
Especially lacking are blood types O and Rh-negative. The MDA stations will be open consecutively from 5-10 PM today and tomorrow, and on Friday from 8-1, in Jerusalem, Haifa, Tel Aviv, Be'er Sheva, Tel HaShomer and the Afula bus station. For other times and places, would-be donors can call (in Israel) 1-800-400-101. Every donor receives free blood insurance for a year for himself and his immediate family.