The Tent Cities are growing

I wrote a blog post last week about the "Tent Cities" in Tel Aviv.  Over the past two weeks, hundreds of Israelis, from all walks of life, set up tents on a heavily populated bike path to protest against the rise in housing prices.

Although, since my last post, it has grown into something bigger: a protest against the whole system.  Last week there were probably around 60-70 tents.  One week later, I counted ~500 covering a stretch of three streets.  They are packed together now.  

The rallies and protests have grown too.  Last week I photographed a protest on a Tuesday and there were probably one hundred people in it.  A week later, at least 2,000 easily.  It was insane and such an exceptional experience to document and be apart of.  

Until next time,

Yallah Bye!

Pure exhaustion and another successful CPR!

My legs hurt, my head hurts, my feet hurt, I'm burnt, my brain turns off every now and then because I'm so tired, and loving every moment of it.

I pulled a "double shift" yesterday.  I worked the afternoon (3pm-11pm) and the night (11pm-7am) shift, then fell asleep from 8am until 2pm, went to the beach (I know, it's a tough life), and then spent four hours documenting/photographing thousands of Israeli's taking to the street and calling for a revolution.

Emergency calls are running together in my memory, and I am so thankful that I write every single one down in my handy dandy notebook  If I didn't, I wouldn't remember 3/4 of my calls.  The reason is because you can't think about them, as my drama teacher in highschool, Mr. Gardner, has said many many times: "You can't think about the basket you just made in the basketball game and keep focusing on how great the shot was, your head has to be in the moment"  That's what it is like working in Emergency Medicine, yes it was wonderful that I had a second successful CPR (I will give the details down below) but I can't keep thinking about it for the next five patients that I have.  Kind of a no-brainer realization, but I thought it would be nice to write down.

My second "successful" CPR:  I was working on the natan (the advanced-life-support ambulance with two paramedics) with one of my really good friends, Brooke.  We had one call before the CPR, just a normal elderly woman with chest pain.

When we were driving back from the hospital we get a call for an unconscious 86-year old man.  For some reason, I always mix up the words for unconscious and CPR in Hebrew (they sound similar), so I asked the driver "We are going to a CPR?"  and he said "Nope, thats (insert the hebrew word here that is too complicated to write in english)".  However, around 2 minutes after we started driving lights and sirens to the call, the call changes to a CPR.  The driver, Roni, says "Dammit Aaron look what you did!" because I jinxed it, oops.  Brooke was really excited because she was finally going to a CPR, an experience that she really wanted to be apart of before she leaves Israel.

We arrived on scene and there were two ambulances there already, one Magen David Adom ambulance, and one private-company ambulance.  The patient was on the fourth floor which is always fun to walk up with all the equipment.  When we walk in, they have already started compressions and incubating the patient.

Let me explain again what a successful CPR means from my previous blog post on my first successful one.  When I say that a CPR was successful, I don't mean that right when we start compressions the patient jumps up and is fully awake and is back to normal and screams "Thanks!".  A successful CPR is when a person gets a pulse back and keeps the pulse, but still unconscious, all the way back to the hospital. Essentially it is bringing someone back to life, because to start CPR the patient has no pulse and is clinically dead (even though we aren't aloud to call someone dead).


The medic who was doing compressions asked me to switch with him right when I got in.  Compressions weren't so nerve wracking anymore because I have already done a CPR before.  Like I did with the first CPR, I prepared myself mentally that this will probably not be successful, considering that the majority of the time CPRs are not successful.  I did several sets of compressions then switched with Brooke.  


There were so  many people in the apartment, probably 10-12 emergency personal.  To help, I decided to be the designated trash guy.  I walked around and picked up all the junk, garbage, and wrappers on the floor.  It was a lot of fun actually, and I followed my driver around so he could have the trash bag right there.  He called me "pach" which means trash can, and that made me laugh really hard.  


The patient was "under", meaning no pulse, for about 30 minutes and I was almost sure this was going to be an unsuccessful CPR.  The thought of someone being clinically dead for 30 minutes and then getting a pulse back sounds completely ridiculous and impossible, it isn't.  


I switched with the medic and started compressions for my second set.  The paramedic said to just keep going until we tell you to stop.  I did about 70 or 80 compressions and then told me to stop so the EKG monitor could analyze the patient.  About 5 seconds later, we hear a beeping sound.  WOW! it was an exceptional feeling and I stood up and Brooke and I exchanged a look of "I can't believe that just happened."  


Everyone was drenched in sweat because there was no AC in the apartment.  Even though there was a lot more work that the paramedics had to do with the airway of the patient, it was a very satisfying feeling knowing that for the second time in a week I can honestly say that I saved someone's life.  I have had two CPRs, and both successful, so I'm still 100% successful!  I hope I can keep that record going.  


Although, this patient will probably be a vegetable, IF he lives long enough to get to the hospital.  Roni called this a "Vegetable CPR", because even though it was successful and there was a pulse and breathing on his own, the patient will not live very long after that.  Even so, it was another experience I will never forget.


As we carried the patient in the "stairchair" downstairs, we had to start compressions several times because he would lose his pulse.  


In the end, we got him onto the private-companies ambulance with a pulse.  I'm not sure what happened with him after they left for the hospital, but I know that the team I was with kept his pulse until we left.  




And that was my second "successful" CPR!  Tomorrow morning, I am going with a MDA friend of mine, Per, to a huge birthright convention (supposedly about 1,000 Birthrighters) and we are representing and presenting the Magen David Adom overseas volunteer program. I am really excited and will update on my blog how it goes tomorrow!




Until next time,




Yallah Bye

Nothing glamorous

I've been putting this post off because my last shift was probably the scariest and most eye-opening day of my life.  Don't worry, I'm not scarred for life or anything like that, although several images do pop into my head from time to time,  BUT:

Things people shouldn't have the "pleasure" in experiencing:
1) Seeing someone's skull from a gash in a fight
2) Seeing a 8 inch long piece of muscle coming from someone's elbow.
3) Having to take an hour to clean the ambulance from all the blood
4) Having a 31 year old patient's vitals and level on conscious dwindle and go to nothing in front of your eyes.
5) Be faced with a traumatic situation.  

I'm not shaken up anymore from the two calls I had on Thursday, I've been hanging out with Yoni, my cousin, for the weekend and we've had a blast.  However, on Thursday night, I had the biggest and longest adrenaline rush in my entire life from the second call. 

Call 1:  Called into Tel Aviv for domestic violence.  Arrived on scene and the patient's, named Ivor, a 27 year old Russian, shorts were completely drenched with blood.  If I squeezed the shorts, I bet blood would just pour out.  He three large lacerations on his fingers and hands, and a couple minor cuts on his head, but the cuts on his fingers wouldn't stop bleeding until half-way to the hospital.  There was a reason why this was scary: 1) He was deported from Canada because he was in jail like 10 times in the last two years. 2) He told me "When we get to the hospital, I'm going to call some friends and we are gonna do a lil 'bang bang' on the ****er who did this to me" and he did a gun-firing motion.  His laugh resembled the Joker from Batman, and looked at me with eyes of just pure death.

Call 2:  THE CALL.  Right when we left the hospital there was another call for domestic violence, but in a very sketchy part of Tel Aviv.  Basically, only drug dealers and other shady people go there.

We arrive on scene and there are hundreds of people walking around, and the driver said "Stay in the ambulance" because it could be dangerous with all of those people around.  A police officer brings in the patient, a 31 year old Ethiopian whom was also in a fight, but this one was more deadly.  His shirt, drenched with blood, his pants have rips everywhere from knife cuts, a huge cut on his forward (showing his skull), and a gigantic bump on the back of his head (later we found out caused internal bleeding in his head), and was unconscious.  Although, he wouldn't respond to anything we would say., but would respond to pain.  

His pulse was weak and fast, one of the signs for hypovolemic shock, and his hands looked like they went through a meat grinder because they were all torn up.  I wrapped a bandage around his head and blood starting seeping through very quickly and the driver ran to the wheel and started driving insanely fast.  Faster than the driver for the CPR, than the woman who was going to give birth, just pure insanity.

You honestly can't train for something like this.  The adrenaline, the ambulance going at insane speeds, someone's life in your hands, you can practice and practice but being in the moment is a whole other thing.  Trying to do the things you practiced in a controlled environment (classroom) and then applying it to a controlled chaos environment is insane.   

Anyways, I started to notice blood pouring from his elbow and looked and there was a 4 inch cut right around his elbow, with a long piece of some sort of muscle falling out.  This was the scary part, going 120 kilometers/hour (like 60 mph) down city streets and swerving through cars makes it extremely dangerous trying to do anything with the patient.  Although I was able to tie a bandage around his elbow, I then did a pain test.  Pushed on a couple pressure point areas that anyone would scream at if I did it as hard as I did, and also the sternum rub which will wake the most unconscious person, no reaction at all.  I checked his pulse and it was considerably weaker and faster and then it stopped (this was on the brachial artery near the wrist) and then checked the carotid artery (on his neck) and there was NO pulse.  This was in a matter of minutes and we were arriving at the hospital right when I felt for his pulse.

I told the driver that there was no pulse and was not responding and he said to start compressions.  I did, but about 15 compressions in the patient sorta moved his arm showing that he was still "alive".  Arrived at the hospital and three paramedics and hospital personal were waiting and rushed him into the trauma-surgery room.  Right when they got him in, he started to seize and have convulsions knocking tons of stuff over.

I left some things out due to the graphic content people don't need to hear about.

After we dropped him off and I walked back to the ambulance, all I could hear was this weird ringing/numbness around my entire body.  I was drenched with sweat, my hands were shaking from the adrenaline, and my mind was completely blank, yet moving at amazing speeds.  I opened the back of the ambulance and it was utter chaos: half the floor was covered with blood, gauze pads and several bloody bandages were also on the floor, two of the "cubbys" with equipment fell out, an open saline bag was dripping on the seats, there was blood on the stretcher, scraps of paper lying around, and dirty/bloody alcohol pads.  It looked like hell.

The only thing that kept me sane was cleaning everything up because it gave me something to focus on.  It took a total of one hour to clean everything up.  The blood had dried on the floor, and I had to replace everything in the ambulance.

My hands were still shaking from the excitement until we got to the station.


In conclusion, that was the most intense call I have ever had.  It tested everything that I have learned so far, and was a call I will never forget.



Until next time,

Yallah bye

Protest in Tel Aviv over the rise in housing prices, and tent cities

I'm not sure if it is on the news back in the states, but in Israel it is one of the most debated issues going on at this time. 

Four days ago, about a dozen people pitched tents on Rothchild Blvd.  Rothchild is a very populated road, right next to the main "square" in Tel Aviv, with a dirt bike path that cuts through the middle.  I remember watching the news four days ago and seeing the few people in one small section of the "park", however, things have changed.

Four days later, at least one hundred tents are pitched now in two rows filling the entire bike path.  They are not living in some paradise park, they are living on dirt and in the blistering heat, including the humidity of Tel Aviv.

It was an incredible site to see.  And it's not just "hippies" or people in their twenties, every different age group is represented here.  People with families, kids, and friends are clumped together to fight against the rise of apartment prices in the city.

I spoke with a Russian woman, Shotz Irena, 52, she is the second picture here.  She came to Israel in 1996 because she hoped there were opportunities of work here.  Fifteen years later, she is unemployed and is "...struggling like the current students, it's not fair." She has a degree in economics and single mom of three kids. 

She stapled on her tent the cost of just rent, without food and other expenses, and is saying that there needs to be change now.


I spoke with another person, Or, a 27 year old male.  He said "This is not just about the housing prices, this is something bigger. For me, this is a revolution against the whole system."  What surprised me the most, was that "If it doesn't change, I won't live in Israel anymore."

Or is the perfect example of the youth with a burning fire in his heart and shows how passionate Israeli's are about justice in the system. 

Many Israeli's felt differently about the effectiveness of this type of protest.  Some, like 40 year old Opher, think "This is nothing.  Want it to be effective?  Get one-hundred thousand people in the [Tel Aviv] square." But an Israeli that I befriended with, named Doron, think that this is an amazing show of passion and thinks this will be effective.

--------

The protest!

I was right about to leave and go home around 8pm when suddenly a group of maybe fifty Israelis started to March down Rothchild Blvd. chanting in Hebrew "For the revolution" and "We are sick of this mess", and "We want change now".  I understood most of the words being chanted, but some were way to obscure for me.

The head of the protest was Zev and he had a megaphone and a huge Israeli flag.

This was an awesome experience because it was my first "photojournalism" test that I've really had.  I didn't see this coming, and had to figure out how to run around and get to the right spots for the perfect shot.  It was a lot of fun, but I was drenched with sweat after about 2 hours of this following the march. 

The march blocked the ENTIRE street, if a car was in the middle of it, it was going to stay stuck for at least 10 minutes.  It was a lot harder taking pictures at night than I thought it was going to be.  My camera has a cheap flash on it, so I tried messing around with that and some other settings.

Anyways, another amazing moment was when the cars would honk.  They weren't honking out of anger, they were honking with praise! In the march, there were people with drums etc. and they would honk with the beat or just honk and wave.  Of course there were those lame taxi drivers who were honking because they were mad, but most of the honks were for the protesters.

Although, the greatest and probably a moment I will never forget, was when they started singing Hatikvah (the Israeli national anthem). It was a unifying experience for everyone involved.  Every single person in that march, plus bystanders started to sing it and I got chills.

I spoke to Zev after and he said that this was just a test to see how many would come out on a Tuesday, the huge numbers are going to come on Friday and Saturday.

I was there for about four hours, and this was after a 10 hour morning shift.  I don't know how I am still awake, it is probably the adrenaline.

It was an exceptional experience to see this today, and I am going back tomorrow morning to take some more pictures and talk to some more people!

Until then,

Yallah Bye!

Performed CPR for the first time today, and it was successful!

Today, I can honestly say that I saved someone's life. 

I always wanted to be at a CPR and do the whole bit (compressions + oxygen etc.) and I always knew that it would come someday, I just wasn't sure when.  It happened today.  I wasn't even going to go in to volunteer today because I only had 3 hours of sleep over the past two days, and getting up at 5am this morning I almost put my head back on the pillow and fall back asleep.  I'm really glad I didn't.

When I say that a CPR was successful, I don't mean that right when we start compressions the patient jumps up and is fully awake and is back to normal and screams "Thanks!".  A successful CPR is when a person gets a pulse back and keeps the pulse, but still unconscious, all the way back to the hospital. Essentially it is bringing someone back to life, because to start CPR the patient has no pulse and is clinically dead (even though we aren't aloud to call someone dead).


Anyways, my first CPR.  I worked yesterday afternoon (3pm to 11pm) and got home at around 1am, fell asleep at 2am and woke up at 5am for today's shift.

I worked on the Natan today (with two paramedics, a medic, and me)

I was talking with a friend of mine this morning about how I really would like to be there if there was a CPR because it is a true test of your skills.  We didn't have any calls for the first 2 and a half hours, and was able to fall asleep for fifteen minutes until our first call.  We get our call at 9:47am, and it was called in for as breathing problems.  I thought that it was just going to be a normal call, apply some O2 then transport to the hospital, BUT...

We arrived at the nursing home ten seconds after the normal Basic Life Support ambulance arrived.  One of the volunteers was carrying in the AED (the device to shock a patient if there is no pulse) and I started thinking, "Hmmm.... that's weird."  When we walked in the patient, an 85 year old woman, was unconscious on the floor.  I missed the paramedics doing AVPU (checking to see if the patient is awake and has a pulse), and right when I put down the ambu bag the paramedic says get the cardiopump.  I can't even explain the adrenaline rush that I experienced at that moment.  But at the same time, I didn't even truly think about it and my training instantly clicked in.

I have a blog post from the start of my training where we did CPR on dummies for basically the entire day, I think this saved the patients life.  I knew exactly what to do, how hard to do compressions, when and how many, and most importantly, I was confident.

While I was focused on compressions, and doing the correct ratio to breaths, the paramedics were putting IV's in and clearing out her airway with this blade type thing that they put down the patients throat.

During the time of compressions, I was preparing myself mentally if the patient did not get a pulse back because the majority of the time CPR is ineffective.  After about 2 and half or three minutes of compressions, I switched with one of the other volunteers and about a minute and  half later, I hear the beeping sound of a pulse on the EKG monitor.  I couldn't believe it.  It was such an extraordinary feeling when I heard the beeping, I still can't believe it.  To know that I directly assisted in saving a person's life, to allow them to live another day, or even another minute, was just pure awesomeness (for lack of a better word).

Although there was a pulse, there was a lot more work to be done, clearing the airway out of all the guck and worrying about other complications that I won't get into because I don't really understand what exactly happened with all the Hebrew.

Anyways, we got her on the ambulance and transported lights and sirens to the hospital.  During the whole time, I continued to assist with giving breaths through the ambu (not mouth to mouth) and kept her alive.

Arrived at the hospital, still a pulse.  Brought to hospital bed, still a pulse.  Left the hospital, still a pulse and breathing, somewhat, on her own.


The greatest part though was when the paramedic, a man named Mani whom has worked with MDA for 30+ years, patted me on the back and sincerely said to me "You're good."  And I just said "Thank you." I wish I said something a little quirky like "Yea, you're pretty good too."  even though he's exceptional at what he does.


We had two more calls, 1) a seizure in one of the malls and 2) heart problems.  But this was on my mind the whole day.

First CPR, and it was successful.  Very lucky, but it happened.  So technically, 100% of my CPRs have been successful!


It was such a significant experience in my life, one that I will never forget.  It has impacted me in a way I can't describe, one in which I never truly understood the power of Emergency Medicine.  This is one of the reasons I came to volunteer with Magen David Adom: to experience different types of calls that I probably won't be able to experience at Syracuse.


Till next time,



Yallah Bye!

My cousin is a commander in the IDF!

I had an amazing experience on Thursday to see a Commander's Ceremony. 

This was a "graduation" for the soldiers in the Commander's course and after this ceremony they are officially commanders.  The equivalence is a sergeant in the US army.  It was amazing seeing all of the soldiers, who were all my age, walk in formation and in perfect unison to the middle of the blacktop.

Each and every one of them has gone through so much during their training to become commanders, from lack of sleep to days with only a can of tuna and a piece of bread.  What to do after?  That differs from every soldier out there.  My cousin, Yoni, is going to be a commander for the Basic Training in the Chemical Warfare unit.  He is going to be the "Drill Sergeant".  This is a very high honor in the Israeli Defense Force because they need to be the most charismatic and enthusiastic soldiers.  One of Yoni's friends, nicknamed the Son of a Hedge Hog, is going to be the instructor for the commander's course that he just graduated from. 

Another of the soldiers that I talked to is going to be a commander in Gaza.  So there are many different possibilities for the "What next?" question. 

I came with my Great Aunt and Uncle Naomi and Irving, my cousins (Dudu, Gabi, Mika), and a couple of Yoni's friends (Moriah and Gabbi). I am very happy that I took off working with MDA for this once in a lifetime opportunity. 


PICTURE INFO:

The first picture is my favorite one of the day because it is pure happiness.  Yoni went through a lot of hardships to make it here, and he said it was a fantastic and uplifting feeling once "we finally made it".

The third picture, the man who is fixing Yoni's cover is the Highest Officer of the entire unit. 

Fourth picture: the man Yoni is hugging is his commander whom he became extremely close with.  It was a pure act of brotherhood. 


The last picture is of Yoni and the Son of a Hedge hog (yoni's best friend). 

Nafcha and two babies with respiratory distress problems, and an angiogram

I've worked three days in a row.  I worked Sunday afternoon, Monday morning, and Tuesday morning.  Unfortunately, my shifts weren't as exciting as the one on Friday, but it's still a lot of fun because it's a new experience.

All of my shifts, I was stationed in a sub-station in Ramat Gan called "Nafcha".  It's a bitter sweet type of a place, but a lot of blech parts (which makes it kinda fun).  Basically, Nafcha is the first floor of a broken down four story building.  The door to the one room is basically in shambles, couches are ratty (used to be brown but are now black), floor is dirty, but there is a really nice TV and awesome conditioning.  The interesting thing about Nafcha is that it is in the super religious ultra orthodox neighborhood of Ramat Gan.

Sunday afternoon shift (3pm to 11pm):

Was able to squeeze my way onto the Natan (the advanced life support ambulance with paramedics).  There were two paramedics, an actual medic in the army, and me.  The medic's name is Idan, and he was an awesome awesome awesome person to work with.  He worked so efficiently and so quickly that it was hard to keep up with him.  He has been working with Magen David Adom for 3 and a half months, and after this month is over he will be a paramedic in the army. 

There were three cancels that were canceled in a row because for all three of them the location was impossible to find.  It was like being on a wild goose chase, even though I've never been on a wild goose chase, I feel like it would be the same type of situation.

Next, an emergency call came in for a two month old baby with respiratory difficulties.  We arrived on scene to this adorable baby who was breathing extremely fast (around 50 breaths per minute).  He was very very weak, and we had to hold the oxygen mask in front of his face because it wouldn't fit right.  While the medic was carrying him to the oxygen, I had to hold the baby's head so it didn't flop backwards because A) he was still young B) his breathing and also heart rhythm was screwed up.  The father was this really nice, orthodox man whom would do whatever we asked him to do.  Whether it was help put the sticky pads for the EKG or hold the mask over the baby's face.  Sheer terror though was over his face, it wasn't a very fun call.  We transported lights and sirens to the hospital, also another time where I saw how emotion will obviously push a driver to drive extremely quickly and very reckless.

2nd call was for an 85 year old woman with a really slow heart beat (32 beats per minute, and normal is 60-80 give or take).  We transported lights and sirens, after the paramedics put some IV's in and some other drugs that I have no idea what the name was.

3nd call.  Another respiratory distress, but for a 2 week old girl.  She wasn't in too bad of shape though, and the parents didn't want us to bring her to the hospital because it happened last week and the doctor said it was nothing.  Then why call the ambulance? No idea, doesn't really make any sense at all.  I was really angry at that because it wouldn't hurt to at least go check it out a second time with a different doctor.  Anyways, the house was really retro and a very nice room on the 10th floor over looking the beach in Tel Aviv.  I learned later that the mom was a famous model in Israel, and the dad was an agent.  There was another guy there and he was the manager for her and a bunch of other famous celebrities in Israel.


Shift done
------------

Next shift was the next morning shift (7am to 3pm).  I have to wakeup at 5:15 to be able to make it to the bus stop at 5:45am to get there at 6:45 AM.   Tel Aviv is actually really nice in the morning, for some reason there aren't too many crazies out at that time and the weather is always divine. 

Natan, again!  I was so happy because I was told that as a volunteer you MIGHT be able to volunteer on a natan in like the 3rd or 4th week.  We only got one call, but it was awesome.

Received a call at 11:15am for a possible blockage of an artery.  We arrived on scene and my friend Per was there! He was working on the Lavan (BLS ambulance) that called us in.  The driver for him was a paramedic, and there were two paramedics and a medic on my natan so we literally had nothing to do.  But that's ok because the best part came at the hospital. 

This was an actual emergency, not just a normal elderly person call.  If we had gotten there 10-20 minutes later one of his main arteries could have been blocked completely and could have had a myocardial infarction (heart attack), which could obviously lead to death.

We rushed him to the hospital and they were going to use an angiogram to see inside his cardiovascular area with a camera and open the clogged artery.  The medic I was with, asked if I could go in and they said yes! It was so cool seeing it done basically right in front of me.  Looking at the screen and seeing the heart pumping and the lungs and the spine, it was such an awesome experience.  The man was also British, and when the wife came I was able to calm her down and make her laugh because she was not that good in Hebrew yet.  Hooray for English! 




I will put the update of my shift today and other fun stuff in the coming days.

Till later,

Yallah bye!

Almost a birth on the ambulance, a bomb threat, and a guy pepper sprayed!

Yesterday I had a crazy shift, and it was on shabbat which I didn't expect there to be so many crazy calls.

I was on a morning shift from 7am to 3pm and instead of being at the main station, my driver (Moshiko) and I went to the most religious part of Ramat Gan.  The strange part was that our "station" was at the bottom of a broken down building.  It used to be a four story complex, but now it is just in shambles with the "station", basically a room with a couch, TV, and two beds, and that was where we were told to be.  Hopefully I am stationed there again so I can take a picture of the place.  Luckily we weren't there for more than an hour when we received our first call.

All I could hear on the radio that it was an emergency, but I wasn't sure why.  When we arrived  on the scene, the driver told me to get the stretcher, ambu bag, and the "birth kit".   When I heard that my eyes went wide.  Several friends that I know have been on an ambulance when a woman gave birth and I didn't have any real desire to join them.  She was having contractions all the way to the hospital, and if we had arrived ten minutes later I don't think we would have made it to a hospital.  The transport to the hospital was ridiculously fast.  I have never been an ambulance tranporting to the hospital with sirens that quickly.  The woman wasn't too comfortable and was screaming very loudly by then.  Arrived to the hospital and brought her in and then left to let the hospital staff work its magic.

As we were driving back from the hospital we were called on the radio that there was a bomb threat literally thirthy seconds away from where we were.  So we were able to get there in a matter of seconds. The scene:  we were in a very relgious neighborhood so there were a bunch of bystanders of orthodox standing on either sides of the this 40 yard long street.  There were two police vans, one blocking each side of the street.  The bomb was said to be inside a building and there were about 6 or 7 policemen running in and out and keeping bystanders away.  In addition, there was a buildup of cars not and the drivers didn't know why there was a stoppage so naturally there was also a lot of honking.  Luckily there wasn't a bomb there, but I did learn a lot about myself in those minutes waiting to see what would happen.

During my training, we discuss about what to do if there was a terrorist attack and how to be effective in those type of situations.  We also had a discussion about if you would go in to a place where a bomb went off only minutes before.  We are apart of the Emergency Response Team and terrorists will place a second bomb to go off thirty minutes or hours later to kill EMS, police, or anyone else who arrived to help on scene.  As I was waiting and envisioning a sight that would just be utter chaos, I came to realize that I would be ready to go in an help.  Although the dangers would be eminent, it's my job to help. That may sound obvious, but if you think about it, truly wonder what you would do, it's a really tough question.  It's one of those questions that I still don't fully know, but being in that moment and almost witnessing an attack I was able to feel the adrenaline and fear that would be natural to feel during this bomb threat.  It was a very rewarding experience being there, but I hope to never be faced with a situation like that again.

The third call came right as we were leaving the potential bomb threat, and I couldn't catch what they said on the radio, but in hindsight I now know why Moshiko drove insanely fast. At the same time that we arrived on scene, four separate motorbike MDA first responders arrived. Now I was really confused because Moshiko couldn't explain to me that it was a suicide attempt.  I didn't learn this until we left the scene an hour later.

An orthodox man met us at the apartment complex and brought us to the patient's door right next to the apartment parking lot.  We knocked on the door of the man and he only peaked through the door and told us to go away and that he didn't need our help.  The first responders and Moshiko were persistant to talking with him, and at that moment I didn't understand why.  Next thing I know, two policemen arrive and then I start to think that this guy is a criminal of some sorts.  The police basically force their way into the house and the ambulance personal were left to wait outside the room.  Twenty minutes past and everyone is talking to each other about what is happening, and of course I can't understand when people speak Hebrew at ridiculous speeds, so I sort of just tried to catch a word or two.  Another ten minutes go bye and my driver tells me that we are leaving.  We get back in the ambulance and the dispatcher tells us that we now need to wait for the police to get out.

We walk back to the parking lot, and by this time there were around 10-15 kids waiting outside trying to see what was happening.  Two seconds later, the door to the room is thrown open and the man whom we saw earlier stumbles out gasping for air, his eyes blood shot and barely open, and the yellow/gross spray color all around his face and neck.  Pepper spray: successful.  The man is about forty years old, orthodox, and has a bunch of mucus and think saliva profusely coming out of his mouth.  The police hand cuff him, but he is able to stumble away for a couple of seconds then is forced to sit down.  I have NEVER seen anything like that in my life, and I didn't know that pepper spray was that intense!  He was going crazy, and started to yell in Hebrew "It hurts, it hurts!" Duh.  It was funny though when he first came out of the room how fast the kids watching bolted away.

The police were struggling with keeping him under control. but right before they put him in the police car, they gave him his kippah (or yamakah) and this would only happen in Israel.  Gotta love it.

My interpretation of what was happening before Moshiko explained to me what actually was happening, was that he was a criminal and someone called him in as being sick or something.  But he was actually trying to commit suicide by turning on the gas in his house and someone smelled it from outside.


So that was my Friday shift, insane and I learned a lot.  I can't believe I had all of those calls in one day and right after each other, but it was fun.


Till my next post,

Yalla Bye

Second shift on the ALS (Advanced Life Support) unit

I had an awesome opportunity yesterday to work on the natan, instead of the basic life support unit.  The natan consists of two paramedics and they can use IV's and loads of medication.  It was great and I had a lot of fun, but natans don't get as many calls as the BLS ambulances but the more interesting calls. 

We had three calls and were out on those calls from around 10am until 3pm (the end of the shift).  It was very exhausting. 

It was an amazing experience working on an ALS unit because I was able to assist with equipment I have never used before.  For example, actually seeing a EKG in practice and having the paramedic explain what it meant (very simplistic wording of course) and explained his process of putting an IV in. 

The first two calls weren't very intersting though.  The first one was an elderly man who was experiencing severe chest pains, but wasn't having a heart attack or anything extremely life threatening at the moment.  And the second call we responded lights and sirens in to a nursing home.  The patient was a 75 year old woman who was also experiencing chest pains but wasn't an emergency. 

The third call was an interesting one though.  We were just leaving the hospital after dropping off the second patient, and we received a call for an unconscious male.  I have never been in a vehicle moving that fast and that crazy trying to weave in and out of traffic.  Side note: Israeli drivers are insane, but Israeli-ambulance drivers are ridiculously insane.  Right before we parked on scene, a first responder on a motor bike showed up and the first responder literally sprinted full speed into the building.  That definitely got my adrenaline pumping because I wasn't sure what to expect.  Was it going to be a CPR? Or just an unconscious patient?  It was very close to being a CPR.  The patient was a 90 year old male who was suffering from diabetes, but recently resporatory problems.  Very shallow breaths, and weak pulse, but he was alive.  However, when we brought him into the ambulance, one of the paramedics told me to continually check his vitals (breathing, pulse, and blood pressure if possible) just in case.  He was still unconscious even as we brought him and placed him on a hospital bed. 

After my shift, I traveled to Modi'in to visit my cousins at their house and hung out with them all night and then most of today.  After, went to the beach! 

Another side note:  Israel's beaches are perfect.  Perfect temperature, perfect atmosphere, and perfect waves. 


I have a morning shift tomorrow.  Until my next post... Yalla Bye!

First shift... success!

My first shift at the Ramat Gan station was yesterday from 11am to 7pm (the perfect time).  We didn't have the most interesting calls unfortunately, but it was nice to get into an ambulance again. 

I had the same driver from the "wedding event", Moshiko, and the medic was a hopeful med school applicant, Leah.  Luckily Leah spoke really good English, but my Hebrew is getting a lot better considering that they only spoke in Hebrew on an emergency call.  It was really frustrating at first because I would have no idea what they were talking about.  If there were subtitles in Hebrew when they spoke, I would be able to pick out words.  But Israeli's speak so fast! By the end of the day though I was able to understand more and more, or at least have some idea of what they were saying.

We had 7 calls.  3 were canceled which is very annoying.  I have a habit of putting my gloves on before arriving at a call, so I wasted a lot of gloves.  Even though there is an endless supply of gloves, it's still a waste.  The first call we had was an elderly woman who basically wanted a glorified ride to the hospital.  Even though it wasn't interesting, I love when patients say thank you (and mean it) when you bring them to the hospital.  She was really funny though because she kept talking about her granddaughter and how we should have a date etc. etc. 

The second was really strange.  We arrived to a house and the woman who called said that her friend was last seen three days ago drinking five redbulls and five coffees then going to her house and not seen since then.  The door was locked, but there was this really putrid smell coming from the room.  I can't even explain how disgusting the smell was.  Our chovesh bacir (senior medic and driver) called the fire dept. to come and try to break in. 

Lifepack

A police officer and another first responder on a motor bike also arrived.  So outside of this house we had the driver, medic, me, three firefighters, two assistant firefighters, a police officer, a first responder, and the woman who called in.  Also, by then about five or six other bystanders came by so there was a pretty large crowd.  There was a window with a grate on it above the door so the firemen put a ladder up and tried to see through there.  The policeman, being highly trained and skilled, went up there and used his iPhone to videotape the inside of the house and see if there was anyone there.  *We still did not know if there was anyone in there* and we watched the video and it didn't look like anyone was in there, but we couldn't see the bathroom.  The firemen decided to try and go in through the back, didn't work.  They tried the front of the house again, didn't work.  The back again, didn't work.  My adrenaline had worn off by then and I was just laughing in my head about this.  Then the officer made the executive decision that there was no one in there, so we all left.  Good times in Israel.

The next call was an extremely old and malnourished woman, it was really sad.  The family said she couldn't eat for the past week.  Somehow there was still a pulse, but it was extremely low.  It was a daunting sight seeing someone still breathing in this type of state.  We weren't able to use the stethoscope because she wouldn't keep her arm straight and would yell when anything would touch her, so I had to check the radial pulse and only take the systolic blood pressure.  We transported her to the hospital. 

The last call was an elderly man who LOVED to sing, and was very nice about us taking him to the hospital.


That's it!  Tomorrow I have a 15 hour shift, until then....


Yalla Bye

Beach all day

And when I say "All day", I mean all day.  I wokeup around 10am, got some cereal, then heard one of my friends Eric at like 10:15 talking on the phone outside my room.  I walked outside, asked him if he wanted to go to the beach, and then we left for the beach!

It was a really hot, but beautiful day.  We met up with a couple other friends right next to the water and would be there until 5pm.  Something knew I learned today is that Israeli's are in love with paddle ball.  One of my friends brought a set to the beach and we played for about 2 hours straight.  It was so much fun, but really exhausting.  It might also be exhausting because I might be a little out of shape, BUT it was still fun. 

All in all, today was very relaxing but I also learned another good lesson: don't try to put sunscreen on your back by yourself.  Somewhere along the line, I missed the memo.

Ein Gedi

Like I explained in the previous post, Ein Gedi is in the middle of nowhere.  It is surrounded by the dead sea, sink holes, and massive mountains.  That is exactly where Brook, David, Eric, and I wanted to spend a day and a half.  We woke up bright and early at 7am, ate, and was ready for our adventure ahead at 8am.  Our plan was to go on a two hour hike then swim in the dead sea for a bit then go home.  It took us a while though to find the start of the hike, and we ended up walking about 45 minutes around Ein gedi looking for the trail head.  It was already like 85 degrees at 9am, but we ended up finding the hike. 

It was a very rewarding four hour hike.  We found hidden waterfalls, an oasis, and springs.  These were very neat sites considering that we were in the middle of the desert in about 100 degree weather and there was actual fresh spring water and trees growing in the creeks.  The first picture is one of the springs, and the other is the three friends I went with. 

Then we went into the dead sea, and I had a much more enjoyable experience this year than last year.  It was a blast, and we were able to make it back by 10pm giving us enough time to go out in Tel Aviv.

White Night, Ein Gedi, and Beach all day

It's been a couple of days since I've updated the blog, and it's because three friends of mine and I did a little road trip to Ein Gedi!  Ein Gedi is basically in the middle of nowhere next to the dead sea.  There is one hospital, one gas station, one tiny cafe, but it was a lot of fun.  We left Friday at around 3pm and arrived at 5:30pm.  Then we just hung out until 9pm and then went straight to bed.  I couldn't keep my eyes open because of the previous night.

And here is the previous night: Thursday night was called "White Night", basically an all night and all morning street party where EVERYONE from Tel Aviv goes out, parties, and all the shops are open.  I experience White Night last year and it was such an incredible experience because everyone felt like "one".  Anyways, the Ramat Gan station volunteers were instructed to report to the station to help with White Night at 8pm.  So, because we are all awesome, arrived at 7:50 eager to be apart of White Night from a different perspective.  Unfortunately, it wasn't as glamorous as we had expected.  We ended up waiting outside for 2 hours with people running around the station, but no one knew what we were supposed to be doing.  I would ask someone "Am I going to be working at tel Aviv?" and then everyone would say "Wait".  I think I heard wait probably 100 times within those two hours. 

Finally at 10pm we were told what to do.  There were two ambulances leaving the station, and there were four of us waiting to go.  The three girls went first, and I went with the second ambulance.  I thought I was going to Tel Aviv, I was wrong.  The first ambulance did go to Tel Aviv and they said it was fun, but my "rig" ended up going to a wedding for an extremely rich Israeli's daughter.  Little did I know that we were going to be there from 10:30pm until 5am.  It wasn't the most exciting thing at the beginning, but around 2am we were able to go inside the building where the party was taking place.  They thought that if we came in with our uniforms earlier, then it would scare the guests.  When we came in, I thought we were in a concert.  It was the biggest wedding, or even private event, that I have EVER scene.  There were five different live famous Israeli pop artists, probably 1,000 guests, bars with so much alcohol it was ridiculous, and a huge dance floor.  A very impressive sight.  So it ended up being a lot of fun.

Our shift ended at 5am and they almost dropped me off when the driver asked if I could stay on until 7am with a different ambulance to help with the morning shift.  Since I was already up, I decided to because I wasn't going to go out to Tel Aviv at 6am.  My driver dropped me off at a random street corner and said to wait for the other ambulance here.  About 5 minutes later I saw one come and picked me up.  There was only a driver in the ambulance and he spoke 0 english.  Let me reemphasize, ZERO English.  Also, I didn't find this out until later, he didn't know this was my first real shift.  We had two calls, both were "lame".  One patient felt sick so we went to the house and told the patient that it was probably just a cold and left.  The other call,  a patient was coughing very hard (pretty nasty) and we transported to the hospital.  I finished my shift at 8am.  I left for Ein Gedi at 3pm.  

Backboard Tournament!

• 
  
  
  
  I forget to talk about the tournament we had with all of the different classes on Sunday.
  
  
  It all started when we were practicing how to backboard a patient. Then our instructor, Avishy, decides to make a competition within our class to see who can go faster. It was a lot of fun, and everyone in our group became much more efficient and faster after competing for an hour and a half. However, being super Israeli, Avishy decides to make it into an even larger competition and challenges two of the other three classes to have a "backboard tournament challenge".
  
  
  All three of our classes rounded up outside, and each class had four individual power teams that they chose to use. The first part of the tournament was a relay race: you must backboard then clean up and then the next team can start the back-boarding process. Long story short, my class won. Then we had 1v1v1. The best of the best of each team went head to head and whoever backboarded someone first won. I wasn't in the best team, but everyone in each class was cheering on their team to win. It was a lot of fun, but very exhausting. We won again!
  
  
  
  Then we wanted to see if the instructors could show us how fast they can backboard someone, since they have been teaching us for so long. Even though they had three people instead of four we thought that they would be faster. But they weren't! It was a really funny moment though because after they were done and realized they weren't as fast as two of the teams, Avishy, our instructor, raised his hands in victory and pretended that he won. (he's so Israeli)

Officially a first responder in israel, arrived in tel aviv, everything is going great

I know it's been a couple of days, but I have been super super busy with learning and studying for my final.

Main updates: I passed the First Responder final for my course and can now officially work with Magen David Adom.  Yesterday  (exam day) was really stressful because we had to get up early, as usual at 7:30, and then start our practical part of the exam at 9am.  There was a lot of waiting, which I usually like for tests, but for this I wanted to just get it over with.  I finished my practical (consisted of backboarding, vitals, and CPR testing) at around 11am.  We thought we were going to start the written part of the exam at 1pm, but it wasn't as organized as we thought it was going to be.  So at around 1:30 Reut told us that the test would be coming in an hour.  So we waited, came around 2:30 and said another hour.  Then another hour. Then another and so forth.  the stress and nervousness that we felt at 9am dwindled away by 4pm and we just wanted to get it over with.  We took the test at 6:30pm.  Then had to wait until 11pm for the results.  Most of us passed and we all got our MDA shirts!

This morning, everyone was pretty exhausted from last night because some went out to Jerusalem and some hung out at Bet Yehuda and had a BBQ.  We met outside and there were 4 or 5 buses going to Tel Aviv, Haifa etc. Then we were told around 30 minutes later to get on the buses, and then I realized that I won't be seeing a lot of these people very soon.  We all became very very close over the past 9 days, we were in classes together from 8:30am until 7pm, hung out together, ate together, basically did everything together.

Getting on the bus,  a lot of things went through my mind.  What will the next part of my journey hold?  What was I going to see?  What calls would I get?  Basically a mixture of emotions, but another leg of the adventure and I am extremely excited to get started.

We got into Tel Aviv at around 1pm and were taken to our guest house, and it's actually really nice.  The rooms are like dorm rooms, but with a mini kitchen and bathroom.  A couple of us walked around to get some shwarma and then walked to the beach.  We are in the PERFECT location.  About 10 minute walk to the beach, 10 minutes to the shook, 10 minutes from some other stuff (probably).  Love it.

Alright, I have to get ready to go to the Ramat Gan station and hear when my first shift is going to be!


Yalla bye

I feel like House

Even though i've been learning the first responder course for a week, I've learned A LOT.  Mostly symptoms and dangers of certain respiratory/cardiac distresses or diseases, but it's really neat.

We worked on scenarious, where our "madrich", or instructor, would bring in 2 people to the room and give them a scenario.  What is happening, what do you see, and that's pretty much about it, and we have to decide what is wrong, and what to do, what questions to ask, and how to treat them.  So, while watching, or if being the one in the scenario, I feel like Dr. House, and trying to figure out what is wrong with what you see.

I can't wait till I take the EMT- Basic course next semester at Syracuse because I will learn even more knowledge for more complicated/random cases. 


For the first time in a week we had a short day!  It was only 5 hours, not bad.  We had a midterm/exam to test how well we are doing and then after learned about burns, and then backboarding.  Then we had time off.

Time to actually go to the Jerusalem that I wanted to see!  We took a cab to the Old City then walked to the Western wall. When we got there I realized that I went to the Western Wall EXACTLY a year ago, and I wore the exact same shirt.  That was some freaky stuff, loved it though.  Then we just walked up and down the markets, until we stumbled upon an outdoor free summer concert full of Israeli's ages from around 18-22.  It was AWESOME, I wish we had more than 10 minutes to hang out there, but it was packed with around 500 Israelis.  They have these outdoor concerts every friday until august, so I will definitely be trying to come back sometime in the next 5 weeks.


The best thing about of madrich, besides the fact that he is so Israeli and is hilarious, is the stories he has being a driver for the past 16 years.  Every situation/disease that he teaches us, he has a story.  Some are funny ones, but others are serious, such as a terrorist attack.  He spoke about once walking by a cafe when a bomb went off and he had to treat seriously wounded/bleeding patients with his bare hands.  These remind you of what COULD happen, but probably, and hopefully, will not. 

I will be putting pictures up next week when I arrived in Tel Aviv because the internet will hopefully be better, but until then...

YALLA BYE.

On a side note, a fantastic actor passed away last night named named Peter Falk.  He acted in the TV show "Columbo", a show my parents and grandam would watch religiously on Friday nights on the classic TV channel.  He was a role model to me, and really sparked my interest in acting.  My parents even secretely sent my Bar Mitzvah invitation to him without me know, he declined but it was still cool to get a response.  He was 83.

More Learning! Yayyy

Awesome day. Long day. Learning day.


Couldn't fall asleep again until like 2am, which was just amazing waking up at 7:30am.  The rooms have HUGE windows and a balcony which is nice, but its perfectly located facing the East so at around 7am this huge bright orange light beeming through the room.  I loved that.

Started learning CPR this time with the equipment, which is a little different from back in Syracuse.  Theres a couple of different equipment things (will put up pictures later) that are actually really convenient.

We practiced in 3 person teams, and I thought that it would be weird using the dummies, but when we got moving everyone zoned in and focused like it was the real thing.

I love that our "drachim", or instructor, tells us a lot of stories every now and then about his crazy calls while working with Magen David Adom.  Fun fact, Israeli drivers have the right to keep a concealed weapon.  So, he told us that he once had to shoot a guy because he had a weapon, and then treated him!  He said they never know where or what they are going to encounter and he said it came in handy.  There were also a couple of stories about when he was the first responder to a terrorist attack.  Pretty shaky subject, and really brought to light how quickly my trip can change here.

After that, more learning.  We learn in a 4 hour chunk then lunch, then a 5 hour chunk then dinner.  The second part we went in depth with a lot of respiratory problems, and also subjects I've never learned how to treat (like diabetes, hyperglycemia, seizures etc.)  Some crazy stuff. 

After dinner, a bunch of people went to the Jerusalem mall.  I know it's not the most amazing and crazy thing in the world, but it was nice to get out of Bet Yehuda for an hour or two.  The walk back however, was intense.  Basically it's like walking up a never ending staircase.  After going up about 200 stairs (and these are big) you reach a street, then another flight of stairs, then another.... Really nice view though after the 20 minute venture up.

For our training, like I said before, we are split into 4 groups.  One of the groups (group 4) has a really enthusiastic Israeli MDA trainer.  There were a bunch of MDA people in the lobby and he said "Ok, everyone let's go!" And so I walked with the group on a quick little hike and then we sat down on this dirt path in the dark.  When we sat down, I realized that the group was really small and I asked "Where's everyone else?"  and the madrich turned to me and said "Oh this is only a group 4 group." *awkward silence* "But you can be an honorary member!"  Yayyy!  Anyways, we sat in a circle and each got a candle.  And we each spoke about who we are, why we are here, and why Magen David Adom.  The first person started with a lit candle, and when he was done talking, he would light the next person's candle and so forth.  So at the end it was  big circle of candles which was really neat.

Another great thing about this was that I was able to hear and see other people who had the exact same views and reasoning for coming here.  It was an awesome time. 

Then we chilled outside and played guitar on the balcony with like 20 other volunteers, that was a blast. 

Anways, need to sleep.  Yallah bye

First day of First responder training: CPR, CPR... and more CPR

Hey everyone!

Today was my second birthday in a row in Israel (19 years)!  That went fast.  But I wasn't able to celebrate it like I did last year on birthright, but thats ok.

I left my Aunt Naomi and Uncle Irving's house in Modi'in this morning at 7:30 am to take a super taxi to jerusalem.  A super taxi is a super cheap taxi that drives around until it has 8 people in it and then drives to Jerusalem.  It's not that bad considering that the taxis was a mercedez.  I guess everything is better in Israel. 

When they said that the First Responder training course was intense, they were right.  It's exhausting.

I arrived at the Bet Yehuda guest house in the hills of Jerusalem and it is awesome, but I sat around waiting with a couple of other volunteers from 8am until 10am for when other people started to arrive.  Everyone who is volunteering, and at the moment training to be a first responder with me, is just amazing because we are all giving up our time (and summers) to volunteer with Israel's ambulance dept.  It takes a certain type of person to do that, and have found a lot of great people so far. 

The day started with an orientation of Magen David Adom, and how awesome it is, and how great it is that we are here.  Then we were split off into 4 different groups to go into 4 different classrooms with 4 different instructors.  Each instructor is a "medic" with MDA and has been training future volunteers from 2 years to 20 years.  My group instructor has worked with MDA for around 15 years and has been teaching this 10-day course for around 10 years.  He's really funny, and gloats about his ADHD a lot for some reason, but is very good at teaching and extremely specific with house he teaches us about CPR.  Even though I already know CPR (thanks SUA) it was a nice refresher and using several of the words in Hebrew (like dofek is pulse etc.)

After the CPR course, I was CPR'ed out.

We were in the class from around 12:00pm till around 6pm, then dinner, then a talk from the main supervisor and creator of the Magen David Adom Volunteer abroad program.  It was very interesting, and reminded us why we are here: to give back to Israel, and have an awesome experience.

Now we are just hanging out and relaxing on the padio. Maybe play some late-night Jew ball (basketball) and probably pass out on the course BUT it'll be fun.


Can't wait for the next 9 days.

Jet lag finally hit me, and driving to an army base

Jet lag wasn't able to hit me the past 4 days because when you hang out with Yoni Dassa, you never sleep, and never stop moving.  I got in Wednesday at 3pm and didn't go to bed until probably 5am.  There were no other options because we went to Tel Aviv, and the only way I would be able to sleep would be to pass out on the side of the street.  But considering that Tel Aviv is very sketchy at night I really didn't want to do that.
That was basically my schedule for the past 3 days though, go to bed late and sleep in late.  However, last night I tried to go to bed at midnight, but couldn't fall asleep until 5am.  It might have also been because I had to sleep on the floor.  Yoni guilt tripped me and reminded me that last summer he slept on the floor instead of me. 
We had to get up at 7am, hooray for 2 hours of sleep, to drive Yoni back to the army base.  That was a trip to see.  It was such an amazing site because as we neared the base, there were just hundreds of kids my age walking around.  They looked so brave, but just like me.  It's just a different world.  When I graduate from high school, I go to college.  When they graduate from high school, they go to the army.  It's inevitable, but just interesting to see right at that moment.