The Day I Returned to School
Towards the next Iranian conflict
Though the new official war with Iran has not yet begun, there were further signs today that our bomb shelter will soon be occupied. Especially since the three-day rainstorm has ceased, at least for now.
Iranian airspace has been cleared.
Six US fighter jets have been tracked flying near the Black Sea, “training exercises.”
Lufthansa became the first European airline to halt all flights to Israel, with other airlines promising to join in.
(String bridge, Jerusalem, 15/1/26)
But for now, let us be distracted by a day in the life in Jerusalem. The last time I had taken an Emergency Medicine course was in the final year of my Chiropractic studies, and I remember feeling envious of the four or five classmates who assisted, as they had already been trained as EMTs.
For at least the last decade, I have told myself that I should take a refresher course, at the very least for my own confidence in potential emergency situations; there was always an excuse that it wasn’t the right time.
On the flight back to Israel two months ago, an elderly woman felt faint, and her daughter was calling out, “Help, help us!” Which inevitably led to the call, “Is there a doctor on the flight?”
Straight up, I am a Chiropractor, not an ER Doc, not even close, and I always try to stay in my lane. I didn’t feel comfortable enough volunteering my services, and when I came home from this flight, it made me feel frustrated and just a little guilty.
(In the end, the elderly woman had suffered from a bit of dehydration, but still.)
And so, I signed up for the EMT course at Magen Dovid Adom, at their Jerusalem headquarters. The final review sessions and testing, both a written exam and a practical exam, began today and will finish tomorrow.
Our group of eight arrived to the frigid classroom (one large window refused to close), each of us from different backgrounds. Our instructor is an Israeli-Arab named Munir, who has worked with MDA for the last 32 years.
His lecture was a combination of anatomy, physiology and emergency medicine; interspersed with stories of his work over the years during terror attacks, household safety tips and repeated warnings that we must always protect our children from physical danger.
Several times, he taught us a technique that he invented over the years in the field, showing us how he does things his way, “They don’t teach THIS in the Ministry of Health!”
At nine am, our Home Front Command alerts went off, because of the 4.2 earth quake. Yes, earth quake, which was focused near the Dead Sea.
At 11 am, the alerts went off again, a potential terror attack but not in Jerusalem, so we continued the learning process.
For lunch, we did a group order of sushi, sitting around and enjoying each other’s company. I work one-on-one so often that I forgot how nice it was to have colleagues around, to be able to socialize in between intensive work.
I do love learning new things, re-learning old things, and to my surprise, socializing. It’s been a while since I have been a student.
When we finished for the day, as I walked to the train, a group of flag-bearing protesters crossed my path, on the way to the massive event planned for this evening.
Just another day in Jerusalem.