Vicky Tiferet, a volunteer EMT with United Hatzalah in Moshav Yuval, northern Israel, was appointed head of the organization’s Emek HaHula chapter last week, becoming the first woman in the organization to hold such a position.
United Hatzalah is built as a national organization which is subdivided into chapters, each with its own unique identity and composition based on the local volunteers who make up the chapter. And so the chapters in Bnei Brak and Beitar Illit offer a different style of operation than do the chapters in Herzliya, Kfar Qassem, or the Central Negev. This allows the organization to provide individual attention appropriate to the regional, religious, and cultural sensitivities of its volunteers and patients. There are currently 81 chapters in United hatzalah.
Vicki responded to her recent appointment, saying, “I don’t look at it as something grandiose. This position will allow me to more easily help my fellow first responders in providing as high a level of emergency care as we can. This is an important role, one that I take seriously, and I’m look forward to continuing to learn from and working with my colleagues and other Chapter heads, as well as my team of terrific first responders here in Emek HaHula, who over the years have become a family.”
Last Chanukah, Vicky was recognized by United Hatzalah for her dedicated and tireless service and became the first recipient of the Korenvaes Miracle Award, created last year as a way for people around the world to vote for the person they think deserves the highest recognition for supporting Israel and Tikkun Olam.
Vicki is a non-religious Jewish woman who arrived from Russia in 1991 at the age of 9 and lives in Moshav Yuval with her husband and four children. She became a volunteer EMT with United Hatzalah three years ago after being diagnosed with a chronic medical condition called Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS) that causes inflammation of the joints and spine resulting in severe pain.
“Helping others does me good,” Vicki said. In an effort to help others, she became a massage therapist and now spends her days alleviating the back pain and spinal issues.
In addition to her EMS work, Vicki joined the organization’s Ten Kavod (Giving Honor) project which coordinates United Hatzalah volunteers’ regular visit of elderly patients to assess and maintain their health as well as spend social time with them. She also became the regional coordinator of the Psychotrauma and Crisis Response Unit (PCRU) for the Hula Valley and Golan Heights. Her ceaseless desire to help others and her constant activity in the region have led to her becoming the Deputy Head of the Hula Valley chapter–one of only three women in the entire country to hold such a position—and last week, she became the first woman ever to be appointed Chapter Head.
“Because of the AS, I live with pain 24/7 and every day that passes is another day closer to the time that I will have to use a wheelchair to get around,” Vicki said. “Whenever I wake up, I need to perform a series of exercises before I can move my limbs without serious pain. It makes getting up in the middle of the night to rush out to medical emergencies extremely difficult. But I do it and I do it with love. Because the thing that keeps me healthy is the adrenaline rush that I get every time I respond to an emergency. It does me good to help others. I believe that what happens with most of our illnesses is that they are somewhat diminished if we are happy and spiritually healthy.”