Raed or Rayed Arafat (born May 24, 1964) is a Syrian-born Romanian intensive care physician of Palestinian origin. An anesthesiologist, he is the founder and of Mobile Emergency Service for Resuscitation and Extrication (SMURD), as well as its Mureş County coordinator.
Born in Damascus to a Palestinian couple from Nablus, he worked as a volunteer in emergency medicine from the age of 14.[1][2] He left for Communist Romania in 1981, and initially settled in Piteşti, where he took Romanian language classes, and later enrolled at the University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Cluj-Napoca.[1][2] Arafat later moved to the Târgu Mureş University of Medicine, where he underwent specialization in anesthesiology.[2][3] He was later a graduate of numerous specialist courses abroad, training with the Paris Fire Brigade, the United States National Guard, and the Norwegian Air Ambulance.[3]
Following the 1989 Revolution, Arafat contemplated leaving for France, but his application was rejected,[1] so he concentrated instead on creating an emergency service in Târgu Mureş (which he originally financed with personal funds).[1]
In 1991, he created SMURD, which began collaborating with the Romanian firefighting service[1] and the Fire service of Scotland,[2] working for it as a volunteer until 1998, when he gained Romanian citizenship.[1][2]
In late 2005, his project to have SMURD function as an additional rescue service at a county level was passed into law, but raised opposition from the physician and Social Democratic politician Sorin Oprescu, who had drafted an alternative proposal.[4] A reference to Arafat as "the Ayatollah of Romanian emergency medicine" and the stress he placed on the latter's country of origin brought Oprescu to the attention of the National Anti-Discrimination Office.[4]
[5] A first aid instructor, he coordinated international lectures on the matter in several countries (including Austria, Denmark, Greece, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the Republic of Ireland, the United Kingdom, and the United States).[3] In 2003, he was made a Knight of the National Order of Merit of Romania (a Grand Officer since 2005).[3]
As of August, 2009, he holds the position of Under-Secretary of State for Health.[6]