Israel 26,
April 16, 2025,
Hi Everyone,
Last evening when my new friend Boris and his wife left, 2 young girls sat down next to me. As usual, I cannot forego striking up a conversation with fellow patrons sitting at the bar. My opening line this time was ‘are you American?’ As they were both speaking English and were clearly not English or Australian, American was a safe bet. 1 young lady was here for a short visit. The other lady came after Oct. 7, and has been here for 1.5 years. She started a website on Facebook called Sword of Iron, Israel Volunteer Opportunities. It is a very successful website and has become the go to website for foreigners looking for opportunities to volunteer in Israel. I consult the site almost everyday and often read about the volunteering experiences of fellow travellers. I told her that I write a blog on a website and have been documenting my stay of 2 months last year and 1 month this year with the IDF and MDA. She was most interested in my experience and took note of my blog site. She also encouraged me to write my blog on her website which I will do ASAP. It may drive more readers to my site as well as helping me in the sale of my soon to be published book. I have decided that the proceeds of the book will go directly to MDA.
This morning as usual I was up at 5:30 am in order to get to my base on time. The hotel prepares me a breakfast to go as they only start serving at 6:30. It takes me 20 minutes to drive to the base but 45 minutes to return due to the heavy Tel Aviv traffic at rush hour. Rush hour here seems to be any time after 9:00 am to 7:30 pm. I worked with 2 paramedics with whom I have worked before on several shifts as well as the chief paramedic who is very experienced and according to his employees, has seen and done everything. They defer to him for his opinion on many cases. The cases were very simple today so I will not go into details.
The 1st case was a Californian lady who married an Israeli and has been living in Tel Aviv for several years. She is a runner and was suffering from a severe acute groin injury. She could not get out of bed due to the severe pain. We gave her an analgesic and muscle relaxant and her condition improved. I think that she has a coxo-femoral inflammation in her hip. I had a similar condition last month and could hardly walk. The radiologist gave me a cortisone shot in the hip joint under ultrasound guidance and I was better in 15 minutes. She will probably have the same treatment.
The 2nd case was an elderly patient with minimal chest pain that quickly improved when we arrived. He didn’t require transportation to the hospital.
The 3rd case was a young man with a cardiac history. He had midline abdominal pain. We brought him to the hospital for an u/s to r/o an aneurysm which was an unlikely diagnosis. I think that he has a semi acute pancreatitis and will have the appropriate tests.
The 4th patient was an elderly gentleman with mild chest pain. In cases of chest pain we always to the routine tests in the apartment and in the ambulance and then transport the patient to the hospital.
Today we finished on time at 3:30. I said good-bye to my colleagues and we took the usual selfies. I invited them to contact me if they ever come to Canada. I promised to take them skiing if they come in the winter or to go sailing on my boat if they come in the summer.
I cannot leave Tel Aviv without making some comments on the Israeli drivers. I actually find the drivers to be quite civilized as long as you follow the rules. They accelerate fast but rarely go more than 10-15 k/h above the speed limit. They are very much respectful if you have the right of way. On the other hand if you don’t have the right of way, forget about making a turn or changing lanes. It is faster to go around the block. Waze is superb here. Without Waze I could never get from A to B. There are too many one way streets and the streets go in circles rather than straight lines. Signalling is theoretical here if you want to change lanes. The horn is a most important part of the car and is used very frequently. I think that most drivers can hit the horn faster than they can hit the gas peddle. There is a green 2 way lane for bicycles, scooters and small motor bicycles. You must not make the mistake or walking in a green lane. They don’t expect you to be there and will give no quarter. They is virtually no J walking like in Montreal. Pedestrians have a green little man on the traffic light allowing them to cross. This very well respected both by cars and pedestrians alike. Pedestrians will stand for several minutes waiting for their turn to cross even if there are no cars in sight. There are also pedestrian cross walks in the middle of the the street with no lights. Cars jam on their brakes if they see a pedestrian showing an indication of wanting to cross. I rented a small Kia for getting around. You must have a small car here as parking is at a premium here and the parking spaces are very small. Israelis can get into much smaller spaces than I would willing to try. I mostly walk here for short distances or take the bus. A young man rolled down his window and asked me if I wanted to sell my car. He was disappointed when I told him that the car was a rental.
I am sitting outside at a table in a sushi restaurant. The sushi is ok but rather expensive for what you get. It is 20C, very pleasant to eat outside. I am alone at a small table writing my blog. As usual on a Wednesday evening, the restaurants are full and I had to visit several ones before getting a table, as many to the tables are already reserved. People really know how to enjoy themselves here.
Love,
Brian
My new MDA 1st responder motorcycle

Tel Aviv

Tel Aviv Hospital

Dizengoff Square, (which is a circle)




My final MDA Team



































































