Emergency Medicine in an Intense Envionrment

Presenter: Emmett Wechsler, Neuroscience, Global Public Health Scholars

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For my practicum project, I interned as an immediate first aid responder (EMT) in an ambulance. I worked in the organization Magen David Adom (MDA), the first care response organization in Israel. I would spend 8 hours everyday in an ambulance providing care to different people. I learned about the importance of healthcare accessibility, seeing people receive faster or slower treatment depending on location and severity of the situation while also dealing with a language barrier. Furthermore, I learned about the respect and responsibility of being a healthcare worker. Healthcare workers work all hours of the day and sometimes do not get the respect that they deserve. Moreover, a country has a responsibility to provide immediate response healthcare (ambulance EMTs) to all its citizens to maintain health and comfort. We worked very hard to provide care to as many people as we could in a timely manner. Listening to the control stations and speeding through traffic, we were able to save and help many lives. Although I only did it for a short period of time, MDA continues to provide care to all citizens residing in Israel.