So how fun that we're here at the NRB in 2025. And since I can never say it right, I'm not going to attempt it. But it's beautiful the way they say it. That these gentlemen that are here with us right now are with what I would call the Israeli Red Cross. However, they call it...
There you go. And I love that a dome on the end of it because if you were to sit where I'm sitting, here's the Star of David. It's red.
Ours is a cross. They have a beautiful red Star of David because you guys are saving lives and you're making a huge impact. It's been a tough, tough, tough couple of years. And so I know our listeners are wanting an update. You guys lost a bunch of ambulances. You lost a lot during this war.
Can you give us an update, Yanni, of what's going on right now? Well, we definitely, first and foremost, lost team members that were killed either on October 7th while reaching out and treating patients. And they were shot and killed by the Hamas terrorists. And others that were called upon the army service and were killed during the active service in the army. We lost 37 team members of us, mainly volunteers, because we are a volunteer-based organization. We have around 33,000 Israelis from all faiths who are part of the organization on a voluntary basis.
The ZMTs and paramedics and so on. And so it's been a challenging time for all of us, for the State of Israel and for us as a member of the organization of Magen David Adon. Yes, and we also have Joe with us.
And Joe, from your perspective of the last couple of years. Well, as Yanni said, it wasn't easy. We lost a lot of members and friends. They only came to volunteer for saving lives and it was devastating to lose them. It was a tense year, year and a half. Being on call all the time, I came especially from Haifa up north, Israel. And we were very high alerted because of the situation and under attack. So it was a year and a half of devastating times and very stressful for me and the staff that worked with us and for our families.
But I hope that things will end to the better in the end. And so what is it right now, Joe? What's it like? Is your transition into a different time? Apparently there's a ceasefire. Are you feeling that?
What does it feel like? There is a ceasefire right now, but there is a tense all the time. We are keeping our high alerted situation in the organization because everything can change. But yep, it's still stressful out there.
Yeah, I would imagine that it is because you don't know. You deal with people that rules aren't a big deal to them, right? They've signed a lot of peace treaties in the past and we've seen the results of that. But obviously you came to the NRB this year with something you wanted to pass on to our listeners. And so from your perspective, Yanni, what would you like us to be updated with? I think that the main message is thank you. The support that Magento Vidadom received over the past year from Christian ministries, organizations, people, is way, way, way beyond any expectation and so on. We received tens of ambulances, mobile intensive care units, bulletproof ambulances, financial support that we were able to purchase new medical equipment and new technologies.
And saying that to the general American Christian supporters and non-Americans, because it even came from believers and ministers from Southeast Asia. It's simply amazing. I've been around in this organization for many years.
Yes, I've seen you for years. This support is opening the hearts, is cleaning up the mind and making sure we know that there are so many people who back us up and basically stand shoulder to shoulder with us when we are reaching out to treat our patients in Israel. This is a fantastic feeling. So we are grateful. We are so blessed for what you do. You guys are obviously the ones risking your life and seeing the opportunities to meet these people that are really, really hurting in unprecedented times. And when I think about having interviewed you guys many times, it always fascinates me that you see this war in a lot of different eyes than I think Americans see it or understand it. Because they're like, these people will never get along. Why are we getting involved in this? That's a lot of the mindset, right?
But you guys see it, from what I understand, more of the gods at work here in those other countries trying to show them he's God. Is that a fair statement? Yeah, of course. This is one of the most special things in Magen David Adam. I mean, last year I spoke here in Nashville.
It was here. That's right. And I said that, you know, my shift begins as a joke. A Christian, a Muslim and Jew got into an ambulance. But actually this is the situation in Magen David Adam. We are all seeking together to save lives and we do it in the best way we can in this organization. And the main thing is to bring health and medical treatment to those who need it as fast as we can. So we are a great example of working together for the way how to work together, how to bring peace to people and to communities and to do what we do in the best way we can. Yeah. And so, Jani, there's obviously a lot of folks listening or watching that aren't familiar. And so if you could give them a comparison between the American Red Cross and Magen David Adam.
There you go. Well, we are a bylaw organization but public, non-governmental. Our duties are we are the pre-hospital emergency medical system of the state of Israel. We run the national blood services. We are an auxiliary arm to the Israeli defense forces during times of security escalations and facing them. And we are the Israeli Red Cross society. So we do also part and work within the global society of the Red Cross, whether it's in training or also in providing assistance out of Israel by highly trained team members.
So that's who we are. And we are an organization based on volunteers. Ninety percent of the human resources of Magen David Adam are volunteers. And they're coming from the entire social spectrum of the Israeli society.
Because it's not an irony, it's our duty. We treat our neighbors. So we have to be with highly trained team members and volunteers and first responders in any given community in Israel.
Whether it is Jewish, secular or orthodox, whether it's Muslim, Christian, Jews, this is the inner drive of the organization to make sure that they're highly trained, capable team members all over the country. And that's a huge part, as I recall, of your organization is you guys are the best trainers in these kind of situations of anybody in the world. And your experience in this has brought a wealth to the world of people in this kind of trauma. Yeah, we share knowledge. Unfortunately, we were exposed to horrible terror attacks and needless to say, the recent war that has been going on and so forth. And we had to build up capacities and use our knowledge and experience to do better.
And we try and learn all the time from a past experience that immediately after the event happened, in order to do better next time. And we are willing to share our experience and knowledge with others all over the world, including here in the US. And so if somebody's listening and they want to give, pray for, those kind of things, how can they reach out and find out more about you guys? So the easiest way is to approach American Friends of Magen David Adam.
They are our representatives here in the US. And the code is savinglivesinisrael.org. Savinglivesinisrael.org. Go there.
I've interviewed, it's just an amazing thing what God is doing with this team in so many different ways, bringing peace in a different way to the whole world. So thank you guys. We appreciate you. Thank you so much. God bless. Thank you.
