EMS in Israel

[EMTBRosenbloom]

HI! I'm currently a EMT-B here in the U.S. (as if you couldn't tell by the name) but lately I've been considering a change in scenery. One place I've been considering is Israel but I can't find anything online about what kind of service they use,how they certify,or who to contact for jobs. If anyone out there has experience there or knows someone that does drop a response at me. THANX!!

 

[bstone]

I used to live in Israel. I will say, almost none of the MDA (Magen David Adom/ Red Star of David) workers get paid. It 99% volunteer. If you're a very highly trained medic then you can get paid, but it's largely volunteer.

Some links:
http://www.afmda.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magen_David_Adom
http://www.redcross.org/mda/

 

[medicdan]

HI! I'm currently a EMT-B here in the U.S. (as if you couldn't tell by the name) but lately I've been considering a change in scenery. One place I've been considering is Israel but I can't find anything online about what kind of service they use,how they certify,or who to contact for jobs. If anyone out there has experience there or knows someone that does drop a response at me. THANX!!

Welcome to EMTLife!!
As you can tell from my location, I am in Israel now volunteering as the on an ambulance for Magen David Adom, the national certifying agency and only 911 ambulance service. I'll give you a quick summary here and now, and feel free to contact me through email or a PM for more information.
The possibility for volunteering and working seems to be greatly dependent on Hebrew skills. Unfortunately, Israel doesn't really US certification, but favors its own system.

Here is a quick review of training levels here, that I pulled from another discussion:
____________
First Responder course (60 hours). For HS and overseas volunteers
Hovesh (medic) (~200 including FR training
Most Ragil (BLS) crews are Hovesh/Nahag (Medic/Driver) (~200 hours including FR training) Driver training is usually added to the hovesh course. (FYI. Hovesh course includes IV training as well as some MCI management training)
Hovesh Bacheir (Senior Medic) a separate course with advanced assessment and what they see as new skills (glucometer testing)
Paramedic (almost exactly like ours), but English is a class in the course. Their courses are all at least two years, and are an adapted version of the expanded US curriculum. Israeli paramedics can drop tubes, push drugs, insert chest tubes, use an i/o bore gun, etc. There is an additional module in the paramedic course to be an army paramedic.

I really think the US EMT-B course is closest to their Hovesh Bacheir course—in number of hours, course content, and skills.
_____

In my case, I came as an EMT-B, but was forced to retrain as a first responder. It was a 60 hour course, and held in English with other students from outside Israel. After you certify as a first responder, you can talk the Hovesh course (offered in English and Hebrew), but as bstone mentioned, it is unlikely you will be paid, unless you train as a paramedic, and even then they are paid much less then in the US. A lot of your success here is dependent on Hebrew skills....
if you are interested in volunteering, check this out:
http://www.jewishagency.org/JewishAgency/English/Aliyah/Israel+Programs/MDA/
It is a joint-program with the Jewish Agency (Sachnut) and Magen David Adom essentially to encourage immigration.
Again, please feel free to contact me offline for more info, I have plenty to share.

Good Luck!!

 

[EMTBRosenbloom]

Thanx!

I truly appreciate the response. I found the information very helpfull. Guess I'll have to brush up on my Hebrew.

 

[Asclepius]

Aren't there some countries where you can go for like eight months at a time or something as a contract employee and make huge money? I had heard about something like that along time ago and thought to myself, if I wasn't married....

 

[firecoins]

Aren't there some countries where you can go for like eight months at a time or something as a contract employee and make huge money? I had heard about something like that along time ago and thought to myself, if I wasn't married....

I have heard this for Saudia Arabia.

 

[Asclepius]

I have heard this for Saudia Arabia.

It's one of the best kept secrets in EMS. I have been looking online now for about thirty minutes and can't find anything on it. I've only heard it discussed one time in passing probably five years ago. But I remember them talking about how you can go and work for six months out of the year and get paid for the whole year plus some. You just have to be willing to work in a terrorist infested, war zone type environment.

 

[BossyCow]

Friend of mine has parents who are physicians. They did this some time ago. It was a nightmare! Working conditions were atrocious and they were treated like servants. They signed up for a finite time and when the contract was due to expire all sorts of 'emergencies' popped up regarding their flight home, their pay, their visa's etc. They ended up getting home 2 months later than they had intended.

 

[Asclepius]

Friend of mine has parents who are physicians. They did this some time ago. It was a nightmare! Working conditions were atrocious and they were treated like servants. They signed up for a finite time and when the contract was due to expire all sorts of 'emergencies' popped up regarding their flight home, their pay, their visa's etc. They ended up getting home 2 months later than they had intended.

Was it lucrative? That was the whole point of what I had heard; was that you can make a butt ton of $$$ doing it.

 

[medicdan]

I truly appreciate the response. I found the information very helpfull. Guess I'll have to brush up on my Hebrew.

As btone mentioned, in Israel, most staff are volunteer, and those who are paid are paid peanuts. There are private ambulance services here, but they provide terrible care, and their employees are treated terribly and I understood are paid very poorly.

Because of poor planning, natural disaster, etc, MDA has the capacity and does travel to nearby middle eastern countries to help-- and often takes over completely because local authorities have no idea what to do.