After training in Israel, a Pitt researcher considers return to emergency medicine

From Dec. 7-12, John Aronis and fellow participants volunteered with MDA ambulance teams, developed skills for use during mass casualty incidents and discovered new realities for EMS professionals

John Aronis’ happy place is in an ambulance. With retirement on the horizon, he’s thinking about spending more time in a rescue vehicle.

For more than a decade Aronis, 68, has worked as a research scientist at the University of Pittsburgh. Within its department of biomedical informatics, he focuses on disease outbreak detection and characterization.

“I do research. I publish papers. I hope that some people might read those papers, and maybe five or 10 years in the future, the work that I do in research will have a real effect in the U.S. health care systems,” he said.

Though there’s enjoyment in applying computer methods to medicine, rolling up in a siren-sounding van offers a different thrill. Aronis knows — he just returned from a weeklong training in Israel for EMS professionals. Offered by Magen David Adom, Israel’s national emergency services system, the program welcomed 30 medical professionals from the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Sweden, Italy, Switzerland, Portugal and Taiwan.

Magen David Adom trainees gather in Israel. (Photo courtesy of John Aronis)

Aronis is a former paramedic — after a career teaching at Pitt and before becoming a research scientist, he spent a year working as a first responder.
His connection to MDA grew from both his interest in emergency services and a desire to return to Israel. Months after his first trip to the Jewish state in May — he and his wife participated in a StandWithUs mission — Aronis sought a way back.

“I had never been to Israel before, and it really wasn’t even on my radar to go there. But with all that was happening, I felt very strongly that I wanted to go and visit,” he said. “When I was there I just fell in love with the place.”

While searching online, the Squirrel Hill resident, who is not Jewish, discovered MDA. Though the organization offered several opportunities for individuals to spend four to six weeks training, Aronis didn’t meet the programs’ age requirements.

“I’m old. I’m close to retirement,” he said. “They’ve got these fantastic opportunities. Made me wish I was 21.”

Aronis found a program for health care professionals that he was eligible for and signed up. From Dec. 7-12, the Pittsburgher and fellow participants volunteered with MDA ambulance teams. Through instruction and conversation, they developed skills for use during mass casualty incidents. They also learned about MDA’s activities during the Oct. 7 attacks and resulting Israel-Hamas war.

Those episodes were in stark contrast to his own period in emergency services — and the experiences of his daughter, who is also a paramedic — Aronis said.

“Here in the U.S., if you’re a medic, you can respond to crime scenes on a regular basis. The police are supposed to secure the scene before the medics go in, but there’s always a little bit of risk,” he said. “In Israel — I’m thinking mostly of Oct. 7 and the days after — medics were being shot at.”

Several EMTs were killed on Oct. 7 while treating the wounded, according to MDA.

Hearing about the paramedics who were murdered or targeted on Oct. 7 was “heartbreaking,” Aronis said. Even hearing about the need for “bulletproof ambulances” was devastating.

John Aronis, right, joins Maged David Adom crew in Israel. (Photo courtesy of John Aronis)

Now back in Pittsburgh, the expertise and insights gained in Israel are too valuable to ignore; with retirement soon to come, Aronis explained, he hopes to take advantage of his training and knowledge.

Whether it’s reentering the field as a paramedic or joining MDA “in some capacity,” Aronis is considering his options: “When you retire, you have to figure out what you want to be when you grow up.”

Like Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s Ulysses, Aronis seeks a path forward in the direction of the past.

“Getting in the back of an ambulance and going, with its lights and sirens, to an emergency has an appeal,” he said. “You’re showing up on the worst day of somebody’s life, the absolute worst day of their life, and you go in and you help them.”

The siren’s sound is enticing, but regardless of his post-retirement plans Aronis hopes others consider the profession and the training opportunities offered by MDA.

“EMS is a calling anywhere in the world, but especially in Israel,” he said. The professionals there came from Jewish, Christian, Druze and Muslim backgrounds and helped “anyone regardless of their race or religion,” he continued. “I carry the MDA medics that I met in my heart.” PJC

Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.