THE SECOND EMS CHAMPIONSHIP CLOSES

2008 OLYMPIMDA, which was a great success, comes to an end in the Dead Sea with an award distribution ceremony to top place winners.

After two days of competitions under difficult weather conditions in the Dead Sea area, the Second OlympiMDA closed just a few weeks after we took leave of the Olympic Games in Beijing. More than 200 first aid providers and paramedics from Israel and 12 other countries around the world participated in an additional sports event - the Second OlympiMDA.  The participants competed in two days of contests, facing challenging and difficult scenarios- snappling, rescue of injured and wounded with the aid of a helicopter, riding on camels to a Bedouin encampment to save a choking infant, providing care in conventional and non-conventional contours as well as administering life saving care to the sick and injured suffering from trauma and cardiac problems. All this, together with countless exciting experiences, joyful victories, alongside heart-breaking disappointments.

An International EMS Conference was held in Ein Gedi, during the last day of the Championship, with participation by top Israeli & International experts in Emergency Medicine, from the USA, the Netherlands, France, Ireland, Spain and Austria.  

The 2008 OlympiMDA ended with a traditional closing ceremony, featuring the distribution of awards to the three highest place winners in different levels: mobile intensive care/ intensive care ambulance crews and regular ambulance crews.

The Competing Categories:

Mobile Intensive Care Crews from Israel:

1st place winners: Carmel Region with paramedics Daniel Greenspan and Michael Abu, first aid provider: Ariel Krieger and volunteer: Rotem Mizrachi.

2nd place winners: Ayalon Region crew

3rd place winners: Yarkon Region crew

Mobile Intensive Care Crews from abroad:

1st place winners: mission from Poland

2nd place winners: mission from Holland (2 crews participating)

3rd place winners: mission from Delaware, USA.

Regular Ambulance Crews:

1st place winners: Gilboa Region with first aid providers: Meital Refaeli and Lior Markowitz, volunteers: Sagi Avramov and Yonatan Harush.

2nd place winners: Negev Region crew

3rd place winners: Lachish Region crew

The Jerusalem Region Ambulance team was highly appreciated for their professional achievements.

This year MDA Director General, Eli Bin, decided to award the 1st place crew winners with a raise in rank and a professional tour of the Red Cross in Geneva. At the closing ceremony, the Director General noted the brotherly feelings between the participants and the spirit of sportsmanship among the contestants, who competed over the thing they perform best every day- saving lives.

Some 200 paramedics and first aid providers from MDA, the Israel Defense Forces and international rescue organizations participated this year, including missions from Canada, Czech Republic, England, France, Germany, Holland, Ireland, Jordan, Norway, Poland, Turkey and USA.

MEDICAL TEAMS FROM MDA, THE IDF AND ALL OVER THE WORLD WILL
COMPETE AMONGST THEMSELVES FOR THE TITLE ‘BEST MEDICAL TEAM'

The Beijing Olympics ended with great pomp and ceremony and the second MDA Olympics of Magen David Adom in Isael will open on 7th September at 18:00, with a festive ceremony on Mount Massada. The second MDA Olympics will end on 10th September at 16:00, in the conference hall of Kibbutz Ein Gedi, in a ceremony where certificates will be presented to the winners. The 2008 MDA Olympics will take place in the Dead Sea region and in Dimona under the banner: "Saving Lives at the Dead Sea".

Approximately 180 medics and paramedics from Israel and 12 other countries will take part in this international sportive event - the second MDA Olympics, which is taking place in Israel at the instigation of the MDA Director General, Eli Bin, and the Director of the Medical Division of MDA, Dr. Zvi Feigenberg.

The first MDA Olympics, which took place in 2006 around the Kinneret and the Western Galilee, was a resounding success and placed the event - which takes place in Israel thanks to MDA - on the international map. This year's competition drew a larger number of medical teams, coming from a larger number of countries.

The competitions are aimed at testing the professionalism and capabilities of the medical teams, in saving lives, and this year about 40 teams will be taking part in the Olympics from MDA, the IDF and international emergency services from Turkey, Canada, Ireland, England, Holland, Norway, USA, Germany, The Czech Republic, France, Jordan and Poland.

On the two consecutive days (8-9.9) the teams will go through 11 stations of treatment and safety, including one at night, during which they will have to deal with various scenes which will test their capabilities for giving correct treatment responses, medical response for victims of a mass casualty incident, treatment for conventional and non conventional incidents and also giving life saving treatment to patients and victims with problems in the fields of trauma, cardiology, children, respiratory emergencies etc. The judges will measure, estimate and grade the capabilities and professional expertise of the competitors in the different categories.

This year there will also be a number of amazing and challenging stations in which the medics and paramedics will have to show their determination, physical fitness and ability to work under difficult conditions.