Magen David Adom and Hatzolah Air (not affiliated with United Hatzalah), an American aviation organization that provides emergency medical air transport, have formed a partnership that will put MDA’s flight paramedics aboard Hatzolah Air and MDA Medevac helicopters to provide medical evacuations in Israel.
Hatzolah Air, headquartered in New York, operates a fleet of Medevac aircraft and receives dozens of requests each month for aviation rescues in the US, Israel, and many other countries.
Hatzolah Air’s partnership with MDA provides the organizations with the potential for expanded medical flight services, including transporting patients to or from Israel for specialized surgeries and providing international relief flights in times of natural disasters.
“This partnership will ensure that seriously injured and critically ill Israelis who find themselves far from medical facilities will get the lifesaving care they need,” said MDA director-general Eli Bin.
MDA regularly provides American and International Hatzolah members with high-level training conducted in the US and Israel. Recently, MDA made its cutting-edge dispatch technology available to its American counterparts.
MDA provides nationwide Medevac flights out of Tveria in Israel’s north and near Be’er Sheva in the south. When MDA established Medevac services in Israel, more than 15 years ago, it contracted with Lahak Aviation to provide the helicopters and pilots, with MDA paramedics.
The contract with Lahak expires in March, and there will be a brief overlap to ensure uninterrupted Medevac services as Hatzolah Air takes over. Under the agreement, pilots will be provided by Israel-based Brook Aviation.
“Previously, we have successfully partnered with Hatzolah Air on medical evacuations,” said Bin. “This included single patients and, in the case of our recent work transporting Ukrainians to Israel, many injured refugees, patients, and Holocaust survivors. We look forward to Hatzolah Air upgrading and expanding MDA’s airborne medical evacuation capabilities.”
