MDA and Health Ministry launch dedicated mental health emergency unit

Magen David Adom, Israel’s emergency service, has partnered with the Health Ministry to establish a dedicated mental health emergency response unit in central Israel for mental health-related emergencies received through MDA’s hotline, a spokesperson says.

In the past year, there has been a 45 percent rise in mental health calls, many linked to the continued strain of war, including acute anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Before the program, mental health emergencies were handled only by EMS dispatchers, standard medical teams, and the police. Now, when someone calls MDA’s hotline with a mental health emergency, the call is transferred to a specially trained mental health dispatcher. When warranted, the dispatcher deploys a mental health crisis intervention unit, including a specially trained paramedic and a mental health nurse with access to a psychiatrist for consultation.

The new unit builds on a successful pilot program that ran from August to December 2025, and introduced two specialized mental health crisis intervention units operating in Holon and Tel Aviv.

Cases treated by the unit saw measurable improvements, including a 3-to-5% reduction in the use of forced sedation or restraint and fewer people sent to psychiatric hospitals unnecessarily.

“Mental health emergencies are some of the most complex and emotionally charged situations our teams face,” says Dr. Raphael Strugo, MDA’s deputy director-general of medicine and blood services at Magen David Adom. “By embedding mental health professionals directly into our emergency response, we’re giving our teams the tools to provide the highest quality care.”