MDA: First Shift

On Sunday May 30th, I had the awesome experience of having my first shift with Magen David Adom. The shift started at 7am, I got there at 6:30 since buses are scarce going to the German Colony in the morning from the University. The base gradually got busier as more medics, paramedics, and doctors filled the halls of the base. The morning was slow, no calls, nothing much to do other than read (which I did a lot of). Around 9am or so, we got our first call. It was scary because the second partner was called away just prior to our response by the dispatcher who needed help. The chovesh bachir (senior medic) told me to get into the passenger seat and off we went, only to be cancelled enroute. The second call came in 10 or 11am  for an elderly woman having trouble breathing. We ended up not transporting her per her request, but still it was great to get into the action again. During the afternoon things were fairly quiet so I took the opportunity to investigate the back of the ambulance to figure out where everything is kept. Unlike in the US, medics don't administer drugs, so that was one less thing I had to look for as I went through each cabinet meticulously. Then the third call came in. We found the man sitting on the side of the street. The chovesh bachir knew the guy who was a drug addict. The man could barely sit up when we asked him too. In the end we couldn't convince him to come with us to the hospital and we left. In the US this would not fly at all, but it is always so cool to see how a different EMS system works.

After all this, we sat around talking and the day ended quietly...just like a summer day at Armstrong Ambulance Service...or at least most summer days there. All in all, a great experience, though I continue to find the bureaucracy to be very hindering and frustrating making every attempt at getting a shift a painfully slow and inneficient process. You gotta love it!