Israel 2026-07

Israel 6,

July 9, 2026,

Hi Everyone,

Today was a rather slow day with MDA. However, every case is a new experience and there is always something to learn with each case.

The 1st case involved a 45 year old patient in a terrible situation. We were called to a residence where the patient was living. He had had a cardiac arrest either due to an arythmia or an MI. He was resuscitated but woke up with severe neurological damage. He had major extremity contractions and could not speak. He has some understanding of what was going on. He appeared to be septic either from a urinary tract infection or due to bed sores. His wife and 2 sisters were present and were extremely supportive of the patient. They could not reconcile with the situation and believed that the patient would improve with time. We did the usual bedside analysis and transported him to hospital.

The 2nd case involved a 20 year old man in a supportive care facility. He had been sexually aggressed at the age of 16 and could not get over the memory. From time to time he would have non epileptic seizures brought on by a stressful situation. We stood by him, protecting his head from injury during the seizure. On awakening he explained the situation to us. He was quite intelligent and was studying to be a social worker. We were both born on Aug. 24 which is a very rare date to have a birthday.

The 3rd case was a fire in an abandoned building. The fire dept. was there with hoses spraying a flame retardant liquid on the building. They then entered the building to ensure that there was no one present inside. There were several fire trucks, police and ambulances present. We found no one in the building but took pictures to explain the excitement.

The 4th case was of a 15 year old girl, in a school with a known history of violence. The chief allowed the young female paramedic in training to handle the situation. Alone in the room with the patient for ½ hour, she was able to convince the patient to come with us by talking quietly with assurance to the young girl. Although the police were there for support if necessary, they were not called upon to intervene.

I returned to my hotel at around 500 and went for my usual swim and run.

Love,

Brian

Israel 2026-06

Israel 4,

July 7, 2026,

Hi Everyone,

Today I did my 1st shift on an MDA ambulance. The day started off slowly and ended up even slower. I was with a very good team so the shift was fun anyway. One of the paramedics was doing his last year of training. He had already done his 3 years of military service and then spent 2 years travelling around the world. He is hoping to get into medical school the following year.

The 1st call was reported to us as a drowning. While racing along to the beach, the call was cancelled as the would be patient started swimming. The 2nd call was for a lady unconscious but breathing and lying on the street. On the way to the scene, the call was cancelled as the lady woke up and walked away.

The 3rd call was a terrible tragedy. We were called to one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in Tel Aviv. The house was a beautiful white bungalow on a large property that was in the process of being renovated. We were told that a young 22 year old man was unconscious on the floor. The family had not seen him since the evening before. When we arrived it was obvious the man was dead and had been dead for several hours as rigor mortis had already set in. There was a computer with several screens on the desk and empty bottles of psychiatric medications near by. The young man was a Muslim and in service with the IDF. His father was away on business, apparently a CEO of well known bank. The police, 2 motorcycle ambulances, a white BLS ambulance and us in a yellow MICU ambulance were all present but there was nothing to be done except to pronounce him as deceased. I can say no more. We were all saddened by the apparent suicide.

The 4th call evolved an elderly woman living in a hospice. She had a severe history of cardiac disease and had had a stroke in the past. Her medical history, type written on 3 pages was given to us. We made the initial diagnosis of septic shock and did the appropriate management, IV fluids, epinephrine, history and physical exam, etc. She appeared to improve in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. On arrival, she was transferred to the hospital stretcher, placed in an ER room and had medical attention with physicians and nurses immediately. In Israel, I have always been impressed with the efficiency of the medical system when we bring a patient to the hospital.

The last call at 3:00 just as our shift was ending was a psychotic patient who had stabilized so the call was cancelled.

I returned to my hotel and went down to the beach. There were 1meter waves making swimming difficult. I swam ¾ of the way to the breakwater and back twice. Going out any farther would have been dangerous. The life guards were whistling people in if they swam out too far. I then ran 5k on the beach in less than 44 min.

I took a short nap and then went to La Mer restaurant to eat and watch the Egyptian – Argentina game. The place was packed with chairs and tables extending out onto the sandy beach. There were at least 1000-2000 fans present. Everyone was routing for Argentina especially after the incident which occurred after Egypt won their last game. The Egyptian coach ran onto the field after the win with a Palestinian flag saying that the team had won the game for Palestine. Politics are not supposed to be allowed at World Cup tournaments, but the incident was ignored by the refs. Egypt erected a huge high wall between Gaza and Egypt to keep the Palestinians out. I guess that he forgot about that wall. The restaurant was dead silent after Egypt took the lead with 2 goals. I was still hopeful that Mesi would prevail with goals. He did not disappoint us. In the closing minutes of the match, Argentina took the lead with 3 goals winning the match. The place went wild with everyone celebrating and congratulating each other. What a win!!

I struck up a conversation with a gentleman sitting beside me at the table. His name is Mikolaj Zalasinski and is a famous opera singer. He has been invited all over the world to be the lead singer in several operas. He will be singing in the opera, Tosca in the Tel Aviv opera house. He will try to get me invited as a guest. They have been practicing for several weeks. I love opera and will be very excited if he can get me a ticket. He was very impressed that I wrote a book about Israel. Apparently, his grandmother is Jewish.

Love,

Brian

Israel 2026-06

Israel 3,

July 6, 2026,

I slept for 8.5 hours so I think that I am all caught up from sleep deprivation from the time change and my 36 hour voyage from hell. As they say, no pain, no gain.

Last evening I wandered over to Mike’s one of my favourite brasseries on the beach. It was a warm 23C with a cool breeze, just right to have a beer, in a pub, with the Med in the background, and watch the Norway-Brazilian football World Cup match. I was at a table with a family of Brazilians who had made Aliyah to Israel many years ago. They were very friendly and expressive but unfortunately it did not help their team win the match.

At the Maxim Hotel, you are free to sit at almost any table as the hotel caters to volunteers. I played ‘Jewish geography’ with a lady who was originally from Montreal and now lives in Toronto. She grew up in the CDN and CSL areas and we had many common acquaintances. I then spoke at length with a lady originally from South Africa and who now lives in Australia.

I spent the rest of the afternoon on the beach doing my usual activities. I am really a beachcomber at heart. In my spare time there is nothing more that I would like to do. I am not really very intellectual at heart. I was 30C with a slight breeze and only the occasional 2 foot breaker. I swam to the breakwater, 500m there and back with ease. The life guards must be getting used to me swimming out that far as they didn’t whistle me in. I didn’t hear a whistle anyway and I was the only one out swimming that far. I then jogged 5k on the beach knocking off 2 min from my time yesterday. If I continue at this rate I will be down to 0 in 3 weeks which is impossible if you do the math.

I bought a Magnum ice cream bar at 3:30 and got so excited by the prospect of eating an ice cream on the beach, that I got carried away and dropped my credit card on the sand. A ‘kid’ picked it up and spent 135 shekels ($65) before I could cancel it. It must have been a kid, as a pro would have made an attempt to empty my bank account. The store got the thief on their camera and I will review it later in the week. I don’t know if they have ‘wanted dead or alive’ posters here.

I am at the La Mer Restaurant overlooking the beach eating my 1st solid meal in 3 days. I really have not been hungry and except for breakfast, have only consumed liquids. There is a live band here to encourage me as I devour a margarita pizza and a local Maccabi draft beer.

Tomorrow, I will do my first shift with MDA so you can expect a full account of my cases.

Love,

Brian

2025-03 Israel

Israel 6,

Mar. 25, 2025,

Hi Everyone,

Today was a routine day which will be quite similar to tomorrow I assume. We were up at the usual hour, had breakfast and then off to work at the warehouse. We emptied duffle bags, checked the equipment and then refilled them.

I should say something about the food. It is really healthy with a never ending supply of fresh vegetables for the 3 meals. Breakfast is a little different with an egg omelet and delicious cinnamon buns. Lunch is the main meal with an assortment of meats, fish and poultry. Supper is similar to lunch with a different assortment of the above. Desert is always made up of several choices of fruits. I am sure that you could eat as much as you want here and never gain weight.

We have a mixed group of volunteers from Canada, the USA, France, Peru, Estonia and Soviet Union. 30% are not Jewish. The Jews range from very religious and kosher, to conservative, secular and 1 atheist. All are Zionists or they would not be here. The age range is from young to middle age with 1 or 2 seniors of whom I am the eldest by far. Everyone is well educated so the conversations around the table and while working is quite stimulating. We all enjoyed the Krav Maga session yesterday. No one complains about the work or the organization. A few of us go for a walk or a run at the end of the day. One fellow was chased by a few ‘hungry’ stray dogs so I will have to be more careful when I run tomorrow as maybe they didn’t get enough to eat. The weather was hot today, probably hitting above 25C in the afternoon. It was rather hot to run so maybe I sweated more and lost a few more ounces.

Yesterday, my shoes gave out. The 1 piece soles and heels fell off spontaneously within minutes of each other. Perfect built in obsolescence. When our commander saw what had happened , he came over, took my shoe size and promised to bring me a pair of boots today. He was true to his word and this morning presented me with a brand new, black, pair of Israeli army boots. I put them on immediately and received jealous comments from my colleagues. I thanked him and the madrihots profusely. I am so proud to wear them. You can see them in the picture below.

Love,

Brian