17 Bedouin women graduate Magen David Adom's EMT course
"Ever since I was a young girl I dreamed of volunteering at MDA and saving lives."
By CELIA JEANMDA EMT's Sharezat Alavid (left) and her sister (photo credit: MAGEN DAVID ADOM)
17 Bedouin women graduated from Magen David Adom's (MDA) Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) course on Sunday, International Women's Day. The course took place in the Bedouin community of Segev Shalom, otherwise known as Shakib Alsalem, located southeast of Beersheba in the Negev.Throughout the duration of the six-month course, with support from the Red Cross, participants learned how to perform resuscitation, use a defibrillator, treat various diseases and injuries, help women about to give birth, manage a multi casual event, and more. Now having graduated, the trained EMT's will be volunteering for Israel's national rescue organization, MDA.During the ceremony, graduates proudly received their official EMT certifications, shoulder ranks and uniforms. "Ever since I was a young girl I dreamed of volunteering at MDA and saving lives. On my 27th birthday my sister surprised me by telling me that she enrolled us both in the course," said the newly certified MDA EMT Sharezat Alavid."It was without a doubt the best gift I have ever received, and I am so excited to be volunteering for the national rescue organization. It gives me great happiness and satisfaction," Alavid exclaimed.MDA graduation course for female EMT's in Segev Shalom (Credit: Magen David Adom)Also participating in the course were representatives of Red Cross including Coordination and Training Coordinator at MDA Racheli Aker, MDA's Regional Director Shimon Alkov along with other MDA staff and volunteers, leaders from the Segev Shalom community and of course, the families of the new EMT's."I am so proud of each of the 17 women that passed the course, very seriously and with a genuine desire to become a lifesaver in the national rescue organization of the State of Israel. The end of the course is a moving moment for all of us, and I wish them all great success," said course instructor, Trippy Alhousah."We work hard to enable every community member, from every background and religion, to join the MDA in shortening the arrival time for patients within their [the EMT's] area in saving lives, an action which stands above everything else," said the MDA Director Eli Bean. "Thank you to the Red Cross for helping hold this important course, all professionals and course instructors, and of course the 17 women who officially joined the MDA family today."
