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Why was Hatzalah started?
When is it appropriate to call Hatzalah?
When shouldn’t someone call Hatzalah?
Are there any services that Hatzalah does not provide?
Does Hatzalah have the backing of Baltimore City?
How many volunteers do you have, and how are they trained?
Does Hatzalah have a continuing education program?
Who was involved in helping Hatzalah get started?
Why won’t Hatzalah members talk about a patient they treated?
Why does it seem to take multiple rings before a Hatzalah dispatcher answers the phone?
Is Hatzalah affiliated with any other organization?
How is Hatzalah funded?
Is Hatzalah accepting new applicants to be trained as EMTs?
How can one obtain more information about Hatzalah? 1. Why was Hatzalah started? Hatzalah was started to take advantage of those few precious minutes during which immediate and proper care may mean the difference between a patient surviving or not surviving. Although Baltimore City Fire Department provides top-notch care, they may not be in a position to respond within those crucial first few minutes. If the local medic is currently out on a different call, a second unit from a further location will be dispatched. This means that those crucial first minutes are not being utilized to begin patient care. Since our volunteers are local, we can often be there within one minute of the call coming in to our dispatchers. Our goal is to have an average on-scene arrival of less than two minutes. 2. When is it appropriate to call Hatzalah? Hatzalah’s primary purpose is to provide immediate care and serve as a bridge until BCFD medics arrive on scene to take over patient care. It is imperative that everyone understand that we are not replacing Baltimore City EMS services (911). If one is faced with a life-threatening emergency or even the possibility of a life-threatening emergency, call 911 and Hatzalah. We cannot stress this point enough. Our Hatzalah EMTs are trained to assess and begin life-saving treatments until the City’s medics arrive to continue with more advanced care and to transport the patient to the appropriate hospital for further treatment. Hatzalah EMTs are trained to assess and treat the following medical emergencies: This is by no means an exhaustive list. All these examples have one thing in common: they are situations that are either life-threatening or have the potential to be life-threatening. If you would consider calling 911, then call Hatzalah as well. View the Hatzalah of Baltimore statistics. 3. When shouldn’t someone call Hatzalah? The most common misuse of a Hatzalah organization is requesting Hatzalah services for what is clearly and obviously a situation that is not life-threatening. Calling Hatzalah for non-life-threatening situations reduces the number of trained volunteers available to respond to a true life-threatening emergency, as well as the likelihood of that patient’s survival. 4. Are there any services that Hatzalah does not provide? Yes! Hatzalah will not provide transportation to a hospital. We are not operating in place of the City, which does a great job. Their medics and fire personnel have the experience necessary to provide the best care possible. As we said previously, our goal is to provide immediate care and serve as a bridge until BCFD arrive on scene to take over patient care. Additionally, we are not trained to diagnose problems. For example, a baby having difficulty breathing may be having an asthma attack, croup, pneumonia, epiglottis, or a host of other possibilities. Determining the cause is not our focus. That is something for the doctors in a hospital setting to determine. What we can do is ensure the baby is receiving adequate oxygen and is stabilized until Baltimore City medics arrive to transport the baby to the hospital. 5. Does Hatzalah have the backing of Baltimore City? Absolutely, 100 percent. We have received very positive feedback from the city and are proud to be working with an EMS organization that provides top notch care in a most professional manner. 6. How many volunteers do you have, and how are they trained? Currently, the Hatzalah of Baltimore volunteer organization has grown from a handful of responders and dispatchers to a corps of 30 trained responders and 20 trained dispatchers. Hatzalah volunteers have been certified by Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems (MIEMSS) as Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs). 7. Does Hatzalah have a continuing education program? Yes! It is mandatory. This enables us to provide the best care possible. Each EMT is required to serve at least one eight-hour shift with a Baltimore City Fire Department Medic unit every month. Additionally, EMTs attend periodic continuing education classes and/or drills. This ensures that each EMT will keep his skills current and ready when called upon in an emergency. 8. Who was involved in helping Hatzalah get started? Hatzalah owes a debt of gratitude to Chief Lloyd Carter, Division Chief, Emergency Medical Services, and Councilwoman Riki Spector for their vital help in seeing Hatzalah get off the ground. We have solicited and received advice from other Hatzalah organizations to ensure that Hatzalah of Baltimore provides the services that best suits the needs of our Baltimore community. 9. Why won’t Hatzalah members talk about a patient they treated? There are many obvious reasons why it is not appropriate to talk about any patient, his care, condition, etc. However, the most important reason is the federally-mandated HIPAA law, which legally forbids any member of Hatzalah from revealing any information about a patient to anyone. This is an extremely challenging issue, due to the familiarity between EMTs and the community at-large. Please don’t ask any Hatzalah member about a patient’s condition, even if the community is aware of what transpired. 10. Why does it seem to take multiple rings before a Hatzalah dispatcher answers the phone? Hatzalah dispatchers are trained to answer the call only after the caller ID appears in the window of their phone. This way, if for any reason the call is disconnected or the caller is unable to continue the conversation, the dispatcher knows the origin of the call and can proceed with the dispatch. Generally, the caller ID will show at the beginning of the third ring. 11. Is Hatzalah affiliated with any other organization? As mandated by our rabbanim, Hatzalah is a totally independent organization and is not affiliated with any other Baltimore organization. We are, however, an affiliate of Hatzalah Central of New York. 12. How is Hatzalah funded? Hatzalah is a 501(c)(3) corporation funded through private donations. One hundred percent of every dollar donated goes to fund Hatzalah operations, which includes equipment, training, and operational costs.
Donations can be mailed to: Hatzalah of Baltimore, 4014 Fallstaff Road, Baltimore, MD 21215: Attention Dovid Heyman 13. Is Hatzalah accepting new applicants to be trained as EMTs? At this time, we feel we are adequately staffed to serve our community. 14. How can one obtain more information about Hatzalah? Call 410-585-0054. That is our non-emergency office number. If no one answers, please leave a message and someone will get back to you. We recognize that it is both a privilege and zechus to be able to help people in their time of need. May it be Hashem’s will that everybody stays healthy and Hatzalah never receives one call, but should we be called upon, we pray to be worthy messengers of Hashem to bring help and relief to those in need. Hatzalah phone stickers are available at Perns, Shabsi’s Judaica and Tov Pizza.
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