Gettysburg Fire Department Firefighter Doug Kahn recently packed up his gear and jetted off to Israel for a week as part of the Emergency Volunteer Project (EVP).
EVP is a nonprofit rescue program whose mission is to be able to deploy aid and volunteers to Israel at a moment’s notice. Through a partnership with the Israeli government, EVP has trained thousands of volunteers across the United States and Israel.
Through the partner program, along with five other American volunteers, Kahn spent a week training with his firefighter brothers and sisters of the Israeli fire services in Jerusalem. Kahn had never volunteered with an international fire station before and welcomed the chance to learn different aspects of emergency response.
“It was a great opportunity,” he said.
Givat Mordechai Fire Station is the main fire station headquarters in Jerusalem just outside the Old City, he said.