The MDA’s New Emergency Medical Care Motorcycles

This post is also available in: עברית (Hebrew)

This week in Jerusalem: The MDA’s (Magen David Adom, an Israeli medical emergency service) new emergency medical care motorcycles started making their rounds. The motorcycles include all medical equipment installed in full emergency medical care ambulances, and allow paramedics to reach their destinations much more quickly.

The Jerusalem branch of MDA got some new reinforcements this week: New emergency medical care motorcycles joined the organization’s fleet of ambulances, equipped with the tech usually found on full emergency medical care units. Sending a motorcycle to the scene allows paramedics to get there much quicker and stabilize the condition of any sick or injured individuals.

When a motorcycle is sent out on a call MDA dispatch also sends out a full emergency medical care unit. If the unit isn’t needed the paramedic already at the scene informs dispatch, and the ambulance itself can be diverted to other, more urgent calls. The motorcycles aren’t there to replace ambulances, but to reinforce the service.

IHLS – Israel Homeland Security

The motorcycles, currently being tested in Jerusalem, started operating on Sunday, November 10, and have already saved lives in at least three cases. A 70-year-old suffering from chest pains, an older man with breathing disorders, a young woman suffering from an acute allergic reaction: They were all given emergency medical care by paramedics who were able to quickly reach them, and later evacuated by ambulance and brought to nearby hospitals.

The motorcycles also allowed dispatch to better manage resources. A motorcycle sent to the scene of a traffic accident, for example, informed dispatch that the injured man on the scene was not seriously hurt. The full emergency medical care unit that was already on its way was diverted, and a normal ambulance reached the scene some time later.