Man, 35, seriously injured in Route 1 crash near La Guardia interchange

A man of about 35 was seriously injured in a road accident on Route 1 close to the La Guardia interchange, and a second man was moderately hurt, according to Magen David Adom, Israel's national emergency medical service. Magen David Adom said its 101 emergency call centre for the Dan region received the report of the accident at 19:21, and that its medics and paramedics treated both casualties at the scene before taking them to Ichilov hospital.

The service described the more seriously injured man as having a head injury and being in a state of impaired consciousness. The second casualty, a man of about 30, was listed in moderate condition with injuries to his lower limbs. The Ynet news site also carried an alert that a man had been seriously hurt in a road accident near the La Guardia interchange.

Who responded and where they were taken

Magen David Adom, usually shortened to MDA, is Israel's equivalent of a national ambulance service and is the body Israelis reach by dialling 101 in a medical emergency. It runs regional dispatch centres; the call in this case was handled by the centre covering the Dan region, the name used for the densely populated metropolitan area around Tel Aviv. MDA's spokesperson's office routinely issues short public updates on accidents and attacks, giving the time a call came in, the number of casualties, their approximate ages and the condition in which they were evacuated.

The two men were taken to Ichilov, the name by which most Israelis know Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, one of the country's largest hospitals and a major trauma centre for the Tel Aviv area.

Route 1 and the La Guardia interchange

Route 1 is the main highway linking Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, and in the Tel Aviv area it carries heavy commuter traffic. The La Guardia interchange is in the south-east of Tel Aviv, where the highway meets La Guardia Street. The reports do not say in which direction of travel the accident took place or on which part of the interchange.

How MDA describes injuries

MDA statements use a standard scale of conditions: light, moderate, serious and critical. A patient described as being in serious condition is considered to have significant injuries, though the term does not on its own mean that the person's life is in immediate danger; that is usually conveyed with the word critical. In this case MDA added that the man's consciousness was impaired, a detail it often includes when a casualty has suffered a head injury. The second man's condition was given as moderate.

Differences between the reports

The two reports are consistent on the location and on one man being seriously injured. The Ynet alert mentions only the seriously injured man, while MDA's statement says two people were hurt and gives details of both. The Ynet item was a short headline alert pointing readers to a fuller story on its website, which was not part of the material available for this report.

What the reports do not say

Neither report explains how the accident happened. They do not say how many vehicles were involved, whether the injured men were drivers, passengers or pedestrians, or whether anyone else was at the scene. There is no information on whether police have opened an investigation, whether traffic on Route 1 was disrupted or lanes closed, or how long the response took. The names of the injured men have not been released, and there has been no update from Ichilov on their condition after they arrived at the hospital.