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Featured
Sheriff and Mrs. Baca, with Hatzolah LA Team
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About
Hatzolah
of
Los Angeles
By
Hatzolah Staff Writer
HATZOLAH
[hats-o-la = Hebrew for Rescue] of Los Angeles is a non-profit
corporation with the primary mandate to assist in emergency medical
situations until the proper county & city resources arrive.
To that end, our volunteers have been trained and certified by
School of Emergency Medical Training and the Health Department
of Los Angeles County as Emergency Medical Technicians. Hatzolah
has formed a Rabbinical & Medical Advisory Board consisting
of distinguished Rabbis & Physicians from the community.
With
the support and endorsement of our community Rabbinical &
Medical advisory panel, thirty individuals of our community have
undergone extensive training, testing and certification over the
past two years. As part of their course of study, all the volunteers
have been trained to provide Basic Life Support, Cardiac Pulmonary
Resuscitation and the use of oxygen and trauma medical equipment.
Additionally, all Hatzolah volunteers have been trained and certified
by the American Heart Association in the use of the most valuable
life-saving technology available today; the Automatic External
Defibrillator (AED).
Today,
these volunteers comprise Hatzolah of Los Angeles, a unified body
of Emergency Medical Technicians, trained and equipped with life
saving skills and equipment, governed by strict protocols, ready
to respond to any medical emergency. HATZOLAH is not a substitute
or alternative to the already existing 911 L.A.F.D. EMS system.
The purpose of Hatzolah is to provide a lifesaving bridge during
the few critical moments is takes the L.A.F.D. Paramedics to arrive.
Our
volunteer corps primarily consists of individuals that are employed
and spend most of their time in the community, such as schools,
houses of worship and local businesses and are many times on an
emergency scene within seconds. They must have a proven and verified
track record of community participation and community service.
All volunteers must be a minimum of 21 years of age and reside
in the community. All Hatzolah personnel are volunteers on their
own time. No one is paid for any services.
Hatzolah
is necessary to our community because of the uniqueness of the
Jewish community in areas such as language and cultural issues.
Since our community consists of many Holocaust survivors and language
may be a barrier (many do not speak English well), our volunteers
are required to understand and speak three languages. Our volunteers
speak English, Spanish, Hebrew, & Yiddish. Additionally, on
the Jewish Sabbath (Saturday), there are many Halachot (Jewish
laws) in regard to medical issues, and Orthodox Jewish patients,
may neglect their health out of ignorance of what Halacha allows
or forbids. For this reason the Hatzolah volunteers are extensively
trained in the Halachic guidelines of the Sabbath & Jewish
law in general.
Hatzolah
equips volunteers with Life-saving equipment such as, Oxygen,
Airway management devices, Trauma equipment and A.E.D.’s (Automatic
Defibrillators). Additionally, all volunteers are equipped with
advanced two-way radio communications.
An
emergency response by Hatzolah is activated as follows: 1) A community
member having a medical emergency at home or place of business,
will call 911 and then call Hatzolah, who will dispatch volunteer
first responders to the emergency scene. Since Hatzolah volunteers
work and live in the community, they may well arrive at the emergency
scene prior to 911, and begin providing emergency medical assistance
until 911 emergency crews arrive, or 2) A Chevras Hatzolah volunteer
witnesses an emergency medical situation (i.e. choking in a restaurant,
person collapsing etc.), the volunteer will initiate the chain
of survival by A) Calling 911, B) Notifying Hatzolah Dispatch
(H-Base) of the emergency, and C) begin trained life saving techniques.
H-Base will then ascertain that 911 has been notified and dispatch
additional volunteers, as needed, to the scene. Upon arrival of
city and/or county emergency services there is an immediate transfer
of patient care.
Our
dispatch center is located in the community and is staffed by
trained Hatzolah Volunteers around the clock. We are available
to the community 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In the event of
a countywide emergency (i.e. earthquake, disaster etc.) our volunteers
are trained to assist and provide medical relief.
All
funding for Hatzolah is by private solicitation & donation.
No city, county, state or federal funds are used or requested.
Community members assisted by Hatzolah are not charged any fees
for this service. It is strictly a volunteer and community based
free service. We do not bill insurance carriers or third parties
for any of our services.
Our
coverage area currently includes the following geographical area
in the City of Los Angeles: Fairfax Avenue (West), Olympic Blvd.
(South), Willoughby Avenue (North), Rossmore Avenue (East). This
area is about two square miles and is known as Hancock Park, Beverly-La
Brea, Park La Brea, Part of the Mid-Wilshire area & part of
the Fairfax district.
We
are committed to working with the County & City Emergency
Services as partners in Emergency Medicine and Rescue. Our goal
is to develop interactive protocols to ensure appropriate response,
chain of command & quality service.
Our
goal is to save lives and improve the quality of life in our community.
Hatzolah will be pro active in the community, by educating the
community on safety issues such as fire safety, traffic safety,
& home safety. We will offer training to the community- in
basic first-aid and C.P.R., by American Red Cross certified instructors.