MDA, pronounced MAH-dah per its Hebrew acronym, מד״א) is Israel's national emergency medical, disaster, ambulance and blood bank service.

"[6] The Magen David Adom organization was formed by nurse Dr. Meshulam Levontin in 1930 as a volunteer association with a single branch in Tel Aviv.

[8][9] After opening branches in Jerusalem and Haifa, it was extended nationwide five years later, providing medical support to the public including not only Jews, but also Arabs (Muslim, Druze, and Christian).

Caroline's work at Magen David Adom was based upon studies she conducted with Dr. Peter Safar and the Freedom House Paramedics of Pittsburgh.

The program was initially named after its founder and first coordinator Yochai Porat, who was killed by a sniper on 3 March 2002 while serving reserve duty as a combat medic in the Israel Defense Forces.

Since its inception in 2001, increasing numbers of people have donated blood, usually through groups such as Christian solidarity missions, or family Bar-Bat Mitzvas, especially during seasonal traditional pilgrimage times, such as Passover and Easter.

These are called Lavan (which in Hebrew means "White") due to their external aspect and to differentiate them from the MICU, which have orange stripes on the sides.

Major stations include special units (called "Taaran") for responding to mass casualty events such as natural disasters or terrorist attacks.

[16] Unique among civilian emergency medical services due to its role as national aid society according to the Geneva Conventions, MDA can become an auxiliary arm of the Israel Defense Forces during times of war.

[4] The average ambulance response time in Israel is 8.3 minutes (measured from the moment a dispatch request is received to arrival at the scene of an emergency).

Similar concerns of India, Ceylon, and the former Soviet Union regarding the use of non-Hindu and seemingly religious symbols were also dismissed by the ICRC, but their national bodies chose to adopt the Red Cross as their official emblems in order to gain entry.

On 7 December 2005, a diplomatic conference of states party to the Geneva Conventions adopted a third additional protocol, thereby introducing a new protective emblem, dubbed the "Red Crystal."

According to the rules of the third additional protocol, MDA can continue to use the Red Star of David as its sole emblem for indicative purposes within Israel.

[23] Under these agreements, the red Magen David symbol could not be used in countries other than Israel; moreover the MDA agreed not to operate in the West Bank or in East Jerusalem.

[25] A few months earlier, Dani Dayan from the Yesha Council, a settler organization, had accused the MDA of removing the red Magen David from ambulances operating in the West Bank.

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