As of 13 May 2009 MDA's Director General announced a level 3 alert, the highest MDA alert level. This was raised in all of MDA's regions throughout the country as part of operational preparations and MDA's securing of the visit by Pope Benedict's the 16th to Israel who was escorted by an entourage of over 100 different functionaries and thousands of devotees. The preparation and operational deployment of Magen David Adom, during the Pope's visit, was carried out parallel to the medical back-up operation of the Lag Ba'Omer festivities on Mount Meron. The operation was commanded by MDA Director General Eli Bin, and supervised and controlled by MDA's National Dispatch Centre which is located in central Israel.
Operation "White Cloak," which was one of the largest operations of the last decade, included the participation of approximately 50 MDA emergency vehicles, among them Mobile Intensive Care Units, ambulances, trucks, motorbikes, two mobile clinics and approximately 150 medical personnel - doctors, paramedics, medics and EMTs. Over the five days of the visit, the crews were spread over 22 different sites throughout the country, some were at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Presidents Residence, the Western Wall, Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Mount of Olives, Temple Mount, Geth Semane, The Basilica of the Annunciation and Mount Precipice in Nazareth. Additionally, approximately 400 ambulances and thousands of medics were on standby as operational reserves.
A Mobile Intensive Care Unit was attached to the Pope for his entire visit and carried MDA's emblem - a red Star of David, as did all MDA ambulances securing the Pope, his entourage and the thousands of devotees who took part in the Mass at Mount Precipice near Nazareth and during his tour throughout Israel.
MDA director General Eli Bin said: "Magen David Adom prepared ahead for the Pope's visit, which was one of the largest and most complicated in the past decade. This included preparation and staff meetings, coordinating with the Israeli Police Force and other security forces, and sending out instructions to the Regions. MDA is always prepared and ready to give a swift response to any scenario, including extreme ones, of any scope and in several locations simultaneously, as well as situations where the medical teams will be required to supply medical aid to the thousands of participants at the mass events, in cases of injury or other ailments."
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