Zionsville Firefighters Represent U.S. at Abu Dhabi Ambulance Challenge

The end of November 2025 was a real departure from regular duty for two members of the Zionsville, Indiana Fire Department. That is because ZFD firefighter/paramedic Abdullakh “Dully” Abamislimov and ZFD firefighter/EMT Raymond Kline were in Abu Dhabi competing against the world’s best EMS response teams—nearly 7,500 miles from their hometown of Zionsville.

The “Ambulance Challenge” competition took place during the Abu Dhabi International Civil Defence EMS conference. It was held Nov. 25-27, 2025, at the Conrad Hotel in Abu Dhabi, UAE. The event was organized by the Abu Dhabi Civil Defence Authority to highlight the importance of prehospital medical care and to help EMS professionals keep pace with the latest innovations and technologies in EMS.

The ZFD team was one of 12 chosen to take part in the Ambulance Challenge. “For the past three years, Zionsville Fire has competed in the JEMS EMS competition, which is hosted annually at the FDIC convention here in Indianapolis,” said Kline. “This year we placed first in the competition. Because of that, JEMS decided to send Zionsville Fire’s team to Abu Dhabi.”

While four ZFD members originally won the FDIC competition, only two were available to travel and compete in Abu Dhabi. They were up against teams from Australia, Dubai, Egypt, France, International Medical Solutions, Ireland, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and the UAE National Guard.

“All of the teams were presented with one medical scenario on Day One,” Abamislimov told EMS World. “Some teams got a SOB (shortness of breath) call, some DKA (Diabetic Ketoacidosis), and others got chest pain. On Day Two it was a similar set-up only with trauma scenarios. Again, each team was given one scenario to work with.”

“No rules or guidelines were shared with us,” he added. “We were only told to respond to the call as we would at our home department and to treat the patient at hand.”

“We trained for it just by being good at our jobs 24/7,” Abamislimov said. “The Ambulance Challenge events were designed to be very lifelike, so we treated these patients in those scenarios exactly like we would on the streets. We are constantly training for it, every run that we go on when really we don't know what we're going to face. And just in the real world, I'd say these competitions are like a box of chocolates: We never know what we're going to get.”

As it turned out, ZFD’s first appearance in Abu Dhabi didn’t go their way. By the competition's conclusion, the UAE National Guard EMS team came first. Australia won second place, and Qatar was third.

Still, the experience was one that this Indiana EMS team will cherish for a lifetime.

“The event was an amazing place for international teams to get together and learn from one another about different systems and protocols and treatment styles,” said Abamislimov. “We have made amazing memories and even better friends from all across the world. We are forever in debt to Abu Dhabi Civil Defence for their amazing hospitality and accommodations and hope to be invited back again.”