The Teaching Center for Trauma, Emergency, and Mass Casualty Situations (Teaching Center) at Rambam Health Care Campus (Rambam) continues to earn international recognition for its educational programs that train medical professionals in managing mass casualty incidents.
Rambam hosts trauma courses both locally and abroad. Following a hiatus due to the war, the 16th International Trauma Course launched on Sunday, October 26. This year’s cohort includes 27 medical professionals from 17 countries—including India, Mexico, Georgia, Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Ukraine, Paraguay, Nepal, the Philippines, Kenya, Uruguay, and others—comprising 25 physicians, three nurses, and one rescue and firefighting specialist. Participants engage in specialized workshops, simulations, lectures by leading Israeli and international experts, and guided tours across Israel.
Hospital leadership and staff from the Teaching Center joined the opening ceremony. “The knowledge and experience we’ve gained at Rambam in civilian and security-related emergencies is a shared resource,” said Professor Michael Halberthal, Director General in his opening remarks. “It allows us to provide life-saving tools to colleagues around the world. Each course reflects the mutual responsibility between nations and peoples.”
Dr. Hany Bahouth, director of the Emergency Medicine and Trauma System Section and medical director of the Teaching Center, emphasized the value of international collaboration and the opportunity for global teams to learn from Israel’s emergency preparedness model—especially following the recent prolonged war, during which the country’s emergency medical system demonstrated exceptional performance. He notes that the course does not teach emergency care, as participants are already highly skilled. Instead, it focuses on bringing together diverse systems for safe, efficient, and effective operation to save lives.
“Since its founding over two decades ago, this course has become a professional and human bridge connecting medical teams worldwide around a shared mission: saving lives,” says Gila Hyams, director of Nursing and director of the Teaching Center. “Each cohort brings new insights, helping us refine our ability to respond swiftly, expertly, and with experience to emergencies of any scale.”
To date, 590 professionals from 83 countries have completed the course, including 454 physicians, 122 nurses, and 14 paramedics and emergency system managers.
