A new documentary, Tel Aviv 911, aims to provide a firsthand, behind-the-scenes account of Martin Himel’s 22-year experience as a volunteer senior medic with Israel’s elite paramedic organization Magen David Adom (MDA).
The documentary is presented by Canadian media icon and VisionTV executive producer Moses Znaimer.
Tel Aviv 911 will introduce Canadian audiences to MDA, the only emergency medical service (EMS) in the world that seamlessly integrates 25,000 staff medics with 29,000 trained volunteers---from teenagers to seniors---to provide effective initial treatment, from basic life support to first aid.
“Another suicide bomber walked into here, and killed 11 people and wounded 20. Those suicide bombings also brought a pressing concern for EMS services in Israel,” says Himel in the documentary.
Znaimer and Himel have worked together for over a decade to produce documentaries on important subjects not often covered by mainstream television channels.
Himel’s four-part documentary series Jew Bashing: The New Anti-Semitism addressed the rise of anti-Semitism in Canada, the US, Europe and the Middle East. UNIT 8200 focused on the ground-breaking cyber-security work former IDF Unit 8200 veterans are engaged in around the world. Blasphemy examined classic and contemporary secular and religious cases where a particular belief or point of view results in cancel culture and condemns all who dare to support it.
In Tel Aviv 911, the show introduces a diverse group---from Abba, a 72-year-old volunteer medic; to Yael, a young observant Jewish woman; and Areen, an observant Muslim. Their work with MDA shows how staff and volunteer medics come together and transcend national, religious and age barriers in order to help the sick and wounded.
“I’ve retired. I can’t spend all my days sitting at home, going to the beach. My mission in this life is helping people. And the best way I know in order to help people is through Magen David Adom,” says Abba.
Canadian viewers will also learn about the revolutionary MDA GPS app that locates volunteer first responders who can reach an emergency within minutes, often before the professionals arrive.
