EMA Care Blog

Medical care during the holidays can get a little tricky in Israel. During the holidays, many medical offices and hospitals are operating on Shabbat mode.  Shabbat mode means that personnel are cut to a minimum staffing, many clinics are not operational, and routine, non-emergency health services are not provided.  These hours can include hospitals, emergency and urgent care centers, pharmacies, clinics, and private medical offices.  Medical offices have less operational hours (or none), so the few hours they are open, they are typically overbooked. Don’t forget that Medical Care during the Holidays includes the eve of holidays!  The eve of a...

Managing  medicine in Israel can be challenging for anyone.  Medication in Israel is not the same as medication in other countries, especially if you are from the United States.  Managing medicine in Israel is an important consideration if you are here for a longer stay, whether a tourist, resident, volunteer, or diplomat.   You will need to do research before you arrive, as not every medication is the same when traveling to foreign countries.   If you are coming to Israel for a short stay, be sure to bring your medication with you.  For example, common medications may have different names in Israel. ...

There are common misconceptions about food allergies.  Click here to read about certain misconceptions and what the true facts are about food allergies. Food Allergy Concierge is your expert service for traveling with food allergies. Our food allergy travel experts separate facts from misconceptions. We understand food allergy dangers, we understand how one sesame seed can be life threatening, and we are experienced in preventing cross contact in hotel and restaurant kitchens.

  If you are one of the hundreds of visitors coming to Israel for the holidays, EMA Care offers you tips on eating healthy on vacation!! In Israel, eating healthy when on vacation can be a double whammy……on vacation plus Jewish holidays!! Vacation is a time to relax, to not be at home, and to enjoy a different culture and foods. Some people look at a vacation as a time to indulge. Jewish holidays are based on lots of time praying in the synagogue and lots of time eating large, delicious holiday meals. This combination can result in an indulgent holiday...

As parents of kids in Israel, it is nerve-wracking enough having your child so far away, much more so when the internet, news, and even the students have continuous reports of terror and violence in Jerusalem and the rest of Israel. Here is some advice on how to help your child cope with the  stress.   Safety First. There is no health without safety. If you see something that makes you uncomfortable – LEAVE.  Trust your instincts: The best defense is not to be there. During Succot, I met a seminary student in Jerusalem who had just seen  a violent protest. Lots of...

Parents of Gap Year Students in Israel: Did you know that most Gap Year Programs have no medical personnel?  Health Care for Israel Gap Year students is complicated. Nearly every program requires that students have health insurance, but this coverage leaves parents and Gap Year Programs wanting. Health Insurance does not cover pre-existing conditionsFor pre-existing conditions, parents and students must fend for themselves and find providers and solutions to the student’s needs Health Insurance pays for health coverage, but no one monitors the quality of service provided. If your child gets sick or suffers an acute injury (like a sprained ankle), he or...

There are many cultural differences between Israel and other countries.  Anyone who has had any business interaction here will vouch for that! But did you know that culture also affects your health care? We are not only talking about a language barrier. A visitor to Israel who ends up in the emergency room will undergo an overwhelming, disorienting, truly foreign experience. The three ways cultural differences may affect your healthcare in Israel:   1.Chutzpah- Israeli chutzpah is world famous. It is how the commandos raided Entebbe and freed the hijacked passengers 40 years ago this week. It is also why other people...

My daughter is diabetic, what precautions will she need to take when on a school trip? My son is in the emergency room with a broken leg, can you make sure he gets good care and understands what’s going on? Can you arrange for a gastroenterologist to evaluate my son? I don’t understand what the treatment plan is for my child, could you help us?  Help for student dealing with chronic illness Our augmented health liaison services are available as an additional service for students studying in Israel.If your child is signed up for our student package, we offer more intensive management in personal evaluation...

The Flu vaccine in Israel is available now!!  It’s important that you go now while flu vaccine supply lasts!! In previous years, there have been shortages of the vaccine.  Why should people get the flu vaccine? Influenza is a serious disease that can lead to hospitalization and sometimes even death.Between 80% and 90% of flu related deaths occur in people 65 years and older. So the vaccine is a must for seniors! Other people at risk include people of all ages with pre-existing chronic health conditions, children, and pregnant women.Even healthy people can get very sick from the flu and spread...

Any person with food allergies traveling to a foreign country knows how dangerous it can be. If your child with allergies is arriving in Israel for a summer program or in the fall for a yearlong program, it’s time to take action NOW. The lack of knowledge of the local language, local cuisine, and local customs can be frustrating and life threatening.  EMA Care provides a customized allergy card (in Hebrew) to our clients with food allergies. EMA Care’s allergy cards include: Customized Allergy Information about your childKnowledge of Israeli food products as it pertains to your child’s allergiesDirections on how...

What are the value-added services EMA Care adds compared to current services and medical insurance alone? See our chart below to compare current practice with the value of EMA Care service...     ITEMCurrent Practice – Foreign StudentsEMA Care PracticeAttending emergencies or appointmentsStudent goes alone or the school sends a madrich/ counselor.  Some schools send non-medical faculty members.  Neither option has health knowledge to know if optimal care is being received.Health professional attends emergency or appointment, ensures optimal, US level services are being provided.CommunicationsParents call administrators regarding their child’s health situation.  Administrators are not medical professionals and cannot answer to quality and...

The hushed fact is that many teens spending a gap year in Israel will be drinking alcohol.   Another hushed fact is that tens of gap year students will be treated for alcohol poisoning or other alcohol related injuries and illnesses during their time in Israel. In past years, gap year students have even died because of alcohol poisoning.  The legal drinking age in Israel is 18 years old.  For American youth in particular, this is an exciting novelty and it is tempting to enter pubs and drink. Do the math: The availability of alcohol + the absence of parents + the...

If you are a student with food allergies and living in a dorm, you must take precautions to assure you live in a safe environment.  It’s very important to realize that people who don’t have any exposure to anaphylactic allergies often don’t understand how dangerous they can be. For example, an allergy sufferer meets his roommate for the first time, he says I am allergic to peanuts. The roommate enjoys peanut butter and he says he will be very careful whenever he eats peanut butter in the room. “The peanut butter won’t go anywhere. How dangerous can it be?”. This is...

People have been asking “why do gap year students need EMA Care??” The answer is: Student health plans do not cover essential health needs that parents want for their child.  EMA Care provides those services and fills in the gaps left by local insurance programs.  Each year thousands of students come to Israel to work, study, and have fun!  After high school, it has become a rite of passage for Jewish youth from all over the world to spend 1-12 months in Israel.  The programs are varied from yeshiva/seminary or university study to volunteering in the Negev desert. These varied programs have...

Here in Israel we are experiencing extremely hot weather. High of 40 C, that’s 104 Fahrenheit!! When I walk outside it’s as if I am in a sauna. Hot weather usually just makes people feel HOT, but it can also lead to serious and alarming health problems. Experts say that when night time temperatures do not drop much lower than daytime temperatures, there is added stress on the body. It’s important to follow some simple rules to stay healthy during these high temperatures. 1. Drink lots and lots of cool water. You should have water with you at all times.2. Wear...

It’s inevitable that somewhere, somehow, a teen from one of the many Israeli summer programs, could be in a hospital emergency room this summer.  There are hundreds of teens here and the sad, but true fact is that someone is going to get hurt or sick.  The program director, a counselor, or an ambulance will take the teen to the hospital. What happens when the teen arrives in the ER? Emergency rooms in Israeli hospitals follow typical ER protocol.  However, hospitals are even more crowded here. Hospitals in remote locations may offer sub-optimal care.  Patients are treated based on the severity...

People with gluten-free diets often struggle with traveling and touring, as their diets can be challenging. Good news:  Israel is becoming more aware of the need for gluten free food. In this article, EMA Care gives guidance to gluten-free eating in Israel. Celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder in which gluten damages the small intestine.   The number of people diagnosed with the disease is 1 out of 133, or a little under 1% of the USA’s population.  HOWEVER, it is estimated that 83% of the people with celiac are misdiagnosed or undiagnosed!!  Research shows celiac disease is also on the rise in young adults...

Traveling in Israel with Food Allergies is challenging! Did you know that 15 million Americans have food allergies, and 1 out of 13 children have life threatening food allergies? Whether you are allergic to nuts, sesame, chocolate, certain cooking oils or fruit, the very real fear of allergic reactions may hinder your travel plans to Israel. In fact, there were several cases of severe allergic reactions this year in Gap-Year student in Israel. A client’s child had such a reaction at a social event when a child across the room opened a package of Bamba, a favored Israeli snack with air-popped peanuts. Indeed,...

Did you hear about the new matzoh?  It’s made with whole wheat and bran and it’s fortified with Metamucil.  It’s called "Let My People Go".  LOL!  Actually, there are many people that would love this matzoh to become a reality. A well-known but rarely talked about complication during this time of year is constipation.  Constipation is defined as having difficulty passing or infrequent bowel movements. Matzoh is very low in fiber and during Pessach we eat matzoh, we bake and cook with matzoh meal, and we tend to eat a lot of cookies and cakes with high sugar content and potato starch. ...

Purim is a fun holiday universally celebrated by all walks of life in Israel… but there are dangers involved… especially to teens who find themselves easy access to Alcohol and frivolity. Alcohol toxicity can lead to brain damage, neurological damage, and even death. Dozens of Gap Year students in the past have been injured or even killed as a result of this phenomenon. Purim is an excuse for excesses in alcohol, but caution is needed. It is a tradition, some even say a Mitzvah, to drink alcohol on Purim. But balance is needed between student’s health and well-being and alcohol moderation.  A...

I am not feeling well, what can I do?   I am dehydrated, what can I do to rehydrate at home/ dorm?   Where can I go to get a flu shot?” In Israel, community physicians are not “on call,” so without a medical appointment, access to your health care provider is limited. EMA Care provides “on call” services at specific times each day, in which you can get answers for your questions and receive health information and referrals.   Health care guidance for your year in Israel EMA Care provides yearly and semester-long student packages for students studying in Israel. You can relax...

Delivering and coordinating medical care for Israel Gap Year Programs create challenges for Yeshiva, Seminary, and other Gap Year programs and for the parents of Gap Year students. Gap Year program administrators struggle to get the best health care for their students while communicating with worried parents at home.  Some programs are more involved, some less – but any administrator will name health problems as a major issue they encounter throughout the year. Frequently, concerned parents ask gap year administrators, teachers, Rabbis, counselors and even dorm mothers if their student-child is getting the best care, seeing the best specialist, following the instructions, and getting...