How to Volunteer with Magen David Adom During Operation Roaring Lion

In the days since the joint US-Israeli campaign against Iran began, a lot of attention has focused on what’s happening militarily. Less attention has been paid to the civilian layer underneath — the organizations keeping Israeli society functional when the sirens go off. Magen David Adom is at the center of that.

This piece covers what MDA does, what its role has been since Operation Roaring Lion began, and what it means for diaspora Jews who want to be part of Israel’s emergency response infrastructure through Masa Israel Journey’s volunteer programs.

What Magen David Adom Is

Magen David Adom — Hebrew for “Red Shield of David” — is Israel’s national emergency medical, disaster, ambulance, and blood bank service. Founded in 1930 in Tel Aviv, the organization predates the State of Israel itself. In 1950, the Knesset formally designated MDA as Israel’s national emergency service through the Magen David Adom Law, and in 2006, MDA was officially admitted as a full member of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement — ending decades of exclusion that had been a point of significant international advocacy.

Today, MDA is one of the largest civilian volunteer organizations in Israel. It operates Israel’s emergency medical hotline (101), manages a fleet of over 1,700 ambulances and Mobile Intensive Care Units across 168 stations, collects and distributes roughly 300,000 units of blood per year, and responds to over 800,000 emergency calls annually. Its volunteer force numbers over 33,000 people — roughly half of whom are youth volunteers, with the rest being trained EMTs, paramedics, nurses, and doctors.

MDA is not a wartime-only organization. It operates continuously — cardiac emergencies, trauma, accidents, childbirth — with the same infrastructure that activates when a national crisis occurs. That continuity is part of what makes it effective when it matters most.

MDA’s Role Since Operation Roaring Lion Began

When Israel’s Minister of Defense declared a “special home front situation” at the launch of Operation Roaring Lion on February 28, MDA was formally activated as a directed auxiliary of the IDF Home Front Command — a legal designation under the Civil Defense Law (1951) that places MDA, alongside the police and fire services, at the center of coordinating Israel’s civilian emergency response.

In practice, that means MDA has been running continuous coverage across Israel since the operation began. Emergency responders were dispatched to dozens of incident scenes on the first day of the operation, and have continued responding daily as events have unfolded. Hospitals across the country activated their contingency protocols, moving patients to underground fortified wards and calling in staff — who, in the words of one hospital director, reported “in record numbers.” MDA coordinated patient transport and maintained ambulance coverage throughout, including on Purim.

That statement, made before Operation Roaring Lion, reads differently now. MDA’s capacity to absorb and respond to sustained emergency conditions — built through 95 years of institutional development and tens of thousands of trained volunteers — is not something that materializes in a crisis. It’s the result of continuous investment, training, and the ongoing commitment of people who chose to be part of it.

The Volunteer Layer: Why It Matters

MDA’s operational model is fundamentally built on volunteers. Of the 33,000+ people actively serving across the organization, a significant share are not career medical professionals — they’re trained civilians who completed MDA’s certification courses and show up for shifts alongside paramedics. That model works because MDA trains its people rigorously: a 60-hour certification course covering CPR, trauma, wound care, mass casualty protocols, and advanced first-aid techniques before anyone steps onto an ambulance.

Since October 7, 2023, thousands of diaspora Jews between the ages of 18 and 40 have joined that volunteer layer through Masa Israel Journey’s Magen David Adom program — arriving from the US, UK, Australia, South Africa, Canada, and elsewhere to complete their EMT certification and spend four weeks on active ambulance shifts in Israeli cities. They’ve responded to cardiac events, trauma cases, accidents, and — during periods of escalation — injuries from rocket and missile attacks. Some have extended their programs. Many have returned.

Right now, some of those people are on active shifts.

What the Masa MDA Program Involves

The structure is straightforward. Participants arrive in Israel and spend the first two weeks completing a 60-hour first-responder course — the same foundational certification MDA uses for all its volunteer EMTs. The course is conducted in English with basic Hebrew medical terminology introduced alongside. Once certified, participants spend the following four weeks doing three to four ambulance shifts per week, eight hours per shift, working alongside experienced Israeli paramedics in cities including Haifa and Be’er Sheva.

No prior medical background is required. The program has drawn participants from every conceivable background — pre-med students, teachers, finance professionals, recent graduates. What they share is the desire to contribute something concrete, develop a genuine skill set, and do it inside Israeli society rather than on the periphery of it.

The program costs $400 for six weeks, with a $3,150 Masa Grant applied. That covers housing, programming, insurance, and 24/7 security monitoring through Masa’s Chief Security Officer.

If Emergency Medicine Isn’t Your Path

Masa’s broader volunteer programs run parallel to the MDA track and place participants across Israel in roles that don’t require medical training: community support for displaced families, tutoring and mentoring for children, agricultural work in communities in southern and northern Israel, food packaging and humanitarian aid distribution, and rebuilding projects. The same six-week structure, the same $400 cost with the Masa Grant, and the same age range of 18 to 40.

Since October 7, volunteers from more than 60 countries have come through these programs. The work they’ve done is real — not auxiliary, not peripheral — and the organizations they’ve worked with have requested more of them specifically because the need continues.

If you’re looking for a way to engage with Israel that goes beyond the surface level, this is the most direct one available to young Jewish adults right now. The application is short. The spots are not unlimited.

Frequently Asked Questions