Israel's Bomb-Proof Underground Blood Bank

"It became very clear we needed to move with the war plans because this was exactly the moment, the event it was built for."

"We worked very hard to supply everything they needed [units of blood following the Hamas attacks]."

"We had many injured [patients] and we had to treat them."

Dr. Eilat Shinar, director, Magen David Adom national blood services division

Staff at work at the Magen David blood services center in Ramla, Israel. Bernat Armangue/AP

 

Israel's newly-planned and built blood bank went into premature, but immediately-required action mere hours following the terrorist attacks in southern Israel perpetrated by Hamas on October 7. The Marcus National Blood Services Center in Ramla, located close to Tel Aviv, a new, fortified, subterranean blood bank was scheduled to open within days -- and then October 7 arrived. With over 1,400 people in Israel murdered, and thousands wounded, that timeline was expeditiously moved up with the urgency of need.

 

Staff members immediately responded by moving equipment into the underground bunker to begin their Herculean task of saving lives. At its lowest level, the six-storey, state-of-the-art medical facility, some 15 metres under ground, is built to standards that protect it from rockets, missiles, chemical attacks and earthquakes to ensure that blood processing can proceed when most needed.

The centre, an arm of the Israeli medical emergency, disaster, ambulance and blood service, was able to provide tens of thousands of units of blood mere days following the Hamas attacks. Since the conflict began, thousands of people have donated blood, standing in line for hours to be able to do so. Early in October, 5,000 units of blood were received in one day alone, representing five times the usual contributions, as an overall sense of emergency and preservation settled over the nation.

 

Built in the 1980s, the former blood bank was incapable of handling the country's needs in times of great stress such as conflict. It had additionally been exposed, although not damaged, during earlier conflicts. Following the third war against Hamas in 2014 when rockets reached Tel Aviv and other major cities, plans began following discussions over the need to create a more protected and upgraded facility.

Now almost twice the amount of blood can be stored in the new centre in comparison to the utility of its predecessor -- half a million units annually, compared with 270,000 -- more blood has been processed than has ever been available in Israel's reserves. All of Israel's donated blood is processed in the new steel and concrete 51,000 square-metre facility. Which has a transportation centre, a molecular lab, and an air-filtration system, allowing staff to work even in the potential of chemical or biological conflict.

There is a 300-square-metre safe room whose construction shields it against the most penetrative missile threats.

Staff at work at the Magen David blood services center in Ramla, Israel. Bernat Armangue/AP