Community Magazine August 2012

The Hebrew word “hatzalah” means “to save” or “to rescue”. The organization’s first unit was founded in the late 1960’s in Williamsburg by Rabbi Hershel Webber, who sensed the need for a volunteer ambulance service that would address the religious needs of the Jewish community and improve on EMS response time. After starting out as a first aid group which was basically trained in CPR and carried an oxygen tank, Hatzalah grew and expanded, with Gd’s help, eventually evolving into the internationally-renowned organization that it is today. With over 80 ambulances and over 2000 EMT volunteers, Hatzalah is now the largest volunteer EMS (emergency medical services) and ambulance provider in the United States. Its volunteers operate in New York, New Jersey, California, Maryland, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois and Pennsylvania. Hatzalah also has branches outside the U.S., in places such as Israel, South Africa, Switzerland, Mexico City, Belgium, England and Australia. Worldwide, the organization has over 5000 vehicles and over 15,000 volunteers. On 9/11, Hatzalah staff members were among the first EMS crews to reach the World Trade Center site. When there is a medical emergency, they’re there, and they’re there fast. The Satmar Rebbe reportedly said that there should be a Hatzalah organization wherever Jewish people reside. The Rebbe’s directive echoes the exhortation that appears in the classic Medieval work Shaare Teshuva by Rabbenu Yona of Gerona (Spain, 1210-1268): It is very worthy and proper for there to be in every city wise volunteers who are prepared and ready for any emergency to save any man or woman who may be in a difficult situation. (3:91) New York has the largest Hatzalah group, consisting of 16 divisions. The New York branches all belong to a centralized dispatching and communications system called “Central Hatzalah,” or “Chevra Hatzalah.” Central Hatzalah is based in Brooklyn, and it serves as the organization’s lifeline. Any community seeking to open a Hatzalah branch must go through Central, which keeps track of membership. Outside the New York area, each Hatzalah branch does its own dispatching and coordinating, and are all responsible for their own budget and fundraising. In New Jersey, Lakewood was the first town to set up a Hatzalah division, and it was followed by the Jersey Shore in March of 1992. Five years later, branches were established in Elizabeth/ Union and then in Passaic. Since then, four other Hatzalah divisions were added in the Garden State, with another two also being planned. Jersey Shore is the only Sephardic-run Hatzalah in the United States, and one of two worldwide, the other being Hatzalah’s Mexico City’s division. behind the scenes, they are actually on the front lines – the ones who connect the emergency with the responders. It might sound simple, but few of us realize what being an EMS dispatcher actually entails. Jersey Shore has seven in-house dispatchers, and 16-18 office dispatchers. They follow a series of shifts and detailed schedules with a back-up communications system running through the internet and regular phone lines. They have redundant internet connections, in case one goes down, and if both go down, they have a backup landline connection. The dispatching team also has a battery backup in case of a power outage. The battery can last up to ten days without power, to ensure the organization’s ability to continue its operations under almost all circumstances. Aside from broadcasting the call, the dispatcher is the voice that soothes frantic callers. It is up to them to get the right information, keep everybody calm and focused, and walk the caller through what immediate steps they may need to take before an EMT arrives. They need to maintain their composure throughout the call, no matter how alarming it is and what they are hearing. And often, the things they hear can be very upsetting. Dispatchers, as well as responders, are also bound by strict discretionary rules maintaining full confidentiality about all details of every call. No matter the circumstances, complete privacy of all sensitive details in each call is always assured. The job is especially challenging for home dispatchers, who are on-call throughout the night, sometimes from 6pm-6am. They need to be up in the middle of the night, alert, and with their senses about them to deal with the calls. The dispatchers rotate on Shabbat, manning shifts from Friday at 6 pm (4pm in the winter) until 10am Sunday morning. Throughout a dispatcher’s shift, he cannot leave his house, take time out to shower, or do any other task that might delay his response to a call. A dispatcher’s job does not end once he takes down a caller’s information and then sends out the call through the Hatzalah radio. He is responsible to stay in touch with all volunteers who attend to the emergency, and the ambulance, until they return. The investment of time begins well before they start on the job. All dispatchers must undergo several months of training, during which they learn all the rules and procedures, and then take practice calls alongside an experienced staffer. In short, this is a very difficult job, and amazingly, they do it as a hesed (kindness) for our community – purely on volunteer basis! The Emotional Side When asked to identify the greatest challenge involved in being a volunteer, Morris Abraham described the THE HISTORY OF HATZALAH 56 COMMUNITY MAGAZINE