The JEMS Report

In this third and final installment covering our operations assisting refugees at the Ukrainian border, Dov and Raphael are joined by Linor Attias, a United Hatzalah EMT and one of the mission leaders of Operation Orange Wings. Linor also serves as an emergency management specialist at the Israeli Ministry of Justice and was uniquely suited to be one of the co-leaders of the medical and humanitarian aid mission to assist Ukrainian refugees in Moldova.

In this episode, the trio shares a first-hand account of just a few of the activities that were undertaken as a part of the overall mission, one of which, was successfully opening Moldovan airspace to humanitarian aid and facilitating the evacuation of refugees via the Chisinau Airport which had been closed since the beginning of the war due to its proximity with Ukraine and Transitania. By doing so, Linor single-handedly made a huge impact on the lives of tens of thousands of refugees who were able to receive medicines, food, and humanitarian aid, as well as depart Moldova for their countries of choice.

In this episode, Dov and Raphael go behind the scene of some of United Hatzalah's black ops rescue operations that have been taking place inside Ukraine as part of Operation Orange Wings. The EMS organization, which took upon itself the task of providing medical care and humanitarian aid to refugees on the Ukrainian border in Moldova, could not sit idly by and allow people with severe medical conditions to wallow in the war-torn country. Instead, they sent in team after team to pull out people who needed medical care in a safe environment and bring them across the border to Moldova, Poland, and many, eventually to Israel. 

Join us for a discussion on education in mobile medicine. Keep the conversation going by using #JEMSTalk.

Participants

Jonathon Feit, MBA, MA

Co-Founder & Chief Executive

Beyond Lucid Technologies, Inc.

Mike Touchstone, BSHS, FACPE

Fire Paramedic Deputy Chief, EMS Operations (Retired)

Philadelphia (PA) Fire Department

Past President, National EMS Management Association

In today's episode, Dov and Raphael come to you from the Ukrainian border with Moldova, where United Hatzalah has been undertaking a massive humanitarian and medical relief mission entitled Operation Orange Wings. The mission, which involved more than 150 EMS personnel thus far, has included providing humanitarian aid and medical care to tens of thousands of refugees crossing the border into Moldova.

Our teams have been active at the two border crossings connecting the countries, as well as in numerous refugee centers in and around the capital city of Chisinau. We set up a field hospital in the capital and converted an Irish pub that had been closed due to COVID-19 into an industrial kitchen that has provided more than 80,000 hot meals to refugees. We'll go behind the scenes into some of the stories that took place during the past month of our operation and discuss how our EMS organization began a daily airlift operation that has thus far brought more than 2,000 Ukrainian refugees to Israel. 

Eric Chase speaks with Prescott (AZ) Fire Chief Holger Durre, who's the operations advisor for the All Clear Foundation. They discuss the support individuals, agencies and families receive when life gets tough and crises need to be addressed.

Hear about Alberto Uscanga’s journey to become a firefighter-paramedic through mentorship.

In this episode, we talk about the population that accounts for the majority of EMS calls related to illness – the elderly.

Whether the patient has loved ones by their side or is living alone or in a long-term care facility, this population grouping often requires an extra level of care. We'll discuss tips and ideas on how to provide that, even though these calls are often not the “heroic” ones that EMS personnel respond to. We're here to help the elderly like all our patients, and we'll discuss a specialized program that has been developed in Israel that aims to alleviate non-essential calls while providing routine check-ups for the elderly and at the same time alleviating sensations of loneliness among this target population.

Here's a great conversation with Jason Patton, creator of Fire Department Chronicles. He and host Eric Chase talk about taking care of yourself and others.

You can use this presentation to evaluate if your department meets education and training requirements. 

Susan Bailey, the director of the Louisiana Bureau of EMS, talks about leadership, diversity, equity and inclusion, education, family, service to others and more.