By Bill Carey
EMS1
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Four paramedics, hailing from Kassel, Germany, are spending three weeks in Virginia as part of an EMS Exchange Program organized by the Virginia Association of Volunteer Rescue Squads in partnership with the city of Kassel.
The program, initiated in 2023, sent Paramedic Laura Grabarczy and four other Virginia EMS volunteers to Kassel, where they learned about the German EMS system.
Now, the German team, consisting of Marvin Abel, Luisa Hornschuh, Falk Schramm and Katharina Weber, is observing Virginia Beach’s EMS operations, the department stated.
For Weber, this trip marks her first experience in an urban setting in the U.S., having previously visited rural areas in Wyoming and Indiana.
“It’s totally new for me to be in the big city, and for the rest of our group, it’s their first time in the U.S.,” Weber shared. “It’s a completely different way of life here.”
Weber observed differences between U.S. and German EMS systems, especially the paramedic’s role. In Germany, a physician typically leads and performs medical interventions on-site, while in the U.S., paramedics and EMTs handle prehospital care before transporting patients to the hospital for treatment by an emergency physician.
Weber said she and her team have felt warmly welcomed by their American counterparts.
“Staying with Laura and her family has been amazing. Everyone has been so welcoming,” Weber noted. “The work of EMS here is on another level, and there’s such appreciation for what we do, which isn’t as common in Germany.”
The exchange program continues to foster a valuable cultural and professional exchange, building bridges between EMS teams across the Atlantic.
