ISRAEL: Ambulance crews from around the world compete in Israel's Judean desert as part of a training exercise and competition

Record ID: 395954

  • Title: ISRAEL: Ambulance crews from around the world compete in Israel's Judean desert as part of a training exercise and competition
  • Date: 12th September 2008
  • Summary: (L!1) NACHAL ZOHAR, ISRAEL (SEPTEMBER 8, 2008) (REUTERS) CLIFF AND NORWEGIAN MEDICAL TEAM PREPARING FOR CO-ORDINATION AND CO-OPERATION CHALLENGE VARIOUS OF NORWEGIAN TEAM MEMBERS PUTTING ON SAFETY GEAR FOR CLIMBING VARIOUS OF NORWEGIAN TEAM MEMBERS CLIMBING UP A GIANT ROPE LADDER NORWEGIAN TEAM MEMBERS AT TOP OF LADDER (SOUNDBITE) (English) PETRA OPPEGAARD, PARAMEDIC FROM
  • Embargoed: 27th September 2008 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Israel
  • Country: Israel
  • Topics: Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVADGPNLUMEKNKJW5ICN7VOWF3V5
  • Story Text: A camel train carries an emergency medical team through the searing heat of the Judean desert - a baby at a Bedouin encampment is having trouble breathing.
    The medical team rushes inside a tent, and begins to treat the child.
    The medics check the baby's vital signs and begin to administer first aid.
    But it's not an actual emergency - it's a training exercise. The medical team isn't even from Israel. They're actually from Cork, Ireland.
    The medics are taking part in an elaborate competition and training exercise hosted by Magen David Adom - Israel's version of the Red Cross.
    Emergency medical teams from Israel and 12 other countries are competing.
    Approximately 180 medics, paramedics, and doctors are participating.
    Inside the Bedouin tent, an actress portrays the mother of the baby in distress.
    "I went for a small time - small time. I went outside. He was very good, smiling. He ate. He drank. He drank camel milk," she tells the medics as they work to treat the child - which is actually a sophisticated medical dummy.
    Doctor Jason Van der Velde is the Irish team's manager. He says the drill is a valuable training experience. The interaction with the other medical teams will improve emergency medical care in Ireland, he says.
    "Protocols are protocols around the world and trauma care, and medical care is pretty much standardised around the world, but there's different approaches to it. And those different approaches are actually quite fundamental. A lot of teams have picked up good points from our team, and we certainly are going to be picking up good points from other teams, and try to take that onboard and incorporate that into our practice," Dr. Van der Velde said.
    At another station not far from the Dead Sea, an Israeli medical unit is called to a campsite explosion. A small gas tank used for cooking has exploded. There are multiple injuries.
    As the emergency medical team workers attempt to treat unconscious patients, an actor portraying a man in shock interferes. The medics treat him and the other victims of the explosion, rushing an injured baby - another medical dummy - and an unconscious man to a nearby helicopter for evacuation.
    All the while, organisers of the event keep watch - and take score. All the events are training exercises, but the teams are scored on their performance in handling the situations. Professional pride is at stake.
    A third station tests the medics' teamwork and problem solving skills.
    There, a Norwegian team that usually serves in Oslo and its suburbs, climbs a giant rope ladder. At the top is a list of medical equipment and terms they must memorise and repeat when their boots hit the ground. They have 20 minutes to complete the task.
    Petra Oppegaard, a paramedic on the team says the team is working in Israel to improve their performance back in Norway.
    "Since this is the first time we are here, we don't really know what we're going into so we really didn't know how to prepare, but we are kind of just preparing ourselves the way we work at home. And the main goal for us is just to improve ourselves and to compete against ourselves as a team just to see all of us is going to be a better medic when we get back to home - to Norway," Oppegaard told Reuters Television.
    An American emergency medical team from Sussex County, Delaware struggled on the rope ladder, but excelled on another exercise which tested their memory under time pressure.
    Stuart Hensley, a member of the team, said he hoped to learn some specific skills while in Israel.
    "This region in particular, with its history of the hostilities and stuff, and seeing how they do scene safety take care of the people, and stuff like that - it's what we're hoping to figure out and take back to the states so we can make our people more safe," he said.
    The competition began Monday (September 8), and concluded with an awards ceremony Wednesday evening (November 10). A team from Poland came in first place. A team from the Netherlands took second place, and the American team came in third.
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