30 | NOVEMBER 16 • 2023 
J
N

OUR COMMUNITY

F

or more than 70 years, 
American Healthcare 
Professionals — also 
known as APF — and Friends 
for Medicine in Israel have sent 
North American-based volun-
teer healthcare professionals to 
Israel to support 
Israelis in times of 
crisis.
Emergency med-
icine physician at 
Ascension Macomb 
Hospital Robert 
Kelman, 62, first 
learned about APF in 2002 soon 
after the Park Hotel bombing 
in Israel. Seeing the need and 
learning more about the organi-
zation from his brother, Alan, he 
joined the registry and has been 
involved with APF since.
“I became [even] more 
involved with APF after going to 
a disaster preparedness course 
that APF runs in Israel at least 
once a year,
” explains Kelman, 
who is a member of Young 
Israel of Southfield. 
Soon after that initial course, 
Kelman helped assemble the 
first APF Detroit chapter meet-
ing, eventually transitioning 
onto the national board and 
serving as president from 2016-

2018.
Now, Kelman sits on the APF 
executive board and calls the 
Detroit chapter one of the most 
active of APF. He anticipates 
emergency medicine physicians 
like himself will potentially be 
called upon to support ongoing 
medical needs in Israel as the 
crisis continues to unfold.
Amidst the continuing Israel-
Hamas war that has killed more 
than 1,200 Israelis and wounded 
many others, the need is greater 
than ever.
Founded in 1951, APF is 
home to an expansive emergen-
cy medical volunteer (EMV) 
registry where healthcare profes-
sionals in the U.S. and Canada, 
including physicians, nurses and 
physician assistants, can register 
to provide their services.
During disasters and events of 
declared national crises in Israel, 
APF then calls upon healthcare 
professionals signed up for the 
registry to volunteer to help.

GROWING NEEDS
With some 500 North American 
individuals currently registered, 
healthcare specialties span 
virtually all fields and types of 
services. Two, however, have 

proved to be the greatest asset as 
the Israel-Hamas war rages on.
The healthcare professionals 
currently being called on the 
most are forensic pathologists 
and orthopedic surgeons. 
Forensic pathologists in particu-
lar are working around the clock 
to identify the dead.
“They were in Israel for 
almost two weeks, 
unfortunately, to 
end the delay to 
identify over 300 
bodies,
” explains 
Amir Goldshtein, 
executive director 
of APF.

At the time of this article, 
APF was also preparing to send 
a delegation of three orthopedic 
surgeons and two dermatolo-
gists to Israel to specifically take 
care of soldiers fighting in the 
IDF (Israel Defense Forces).
A group of North American-
based rehabilitation physicians 
were also sent out to a large 
patient center in Israel to help 
fill a void caused by a shortage 
of staff.

LONGSTANDING MISSION
With the emergency medical 
volunteer registry now acti-
vated, APF continues to look 

APF continues to 
send out healthcare 
delegations to support 
Israelis during the war.
Emergency Medical 
Support for Israel

Dr. Robert 
Kelman

Amir 
Goldshtein

ASHLEY ZLATOPOLSKY CONTRIBUTING WRITER

AFP volunteers 
are welcomed 
to Israel.

Volunteer doctors 
at work in Israel

