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בס"ד December 29, 2009 Dear Community Member, “How long can you hold your breath?”On September 21st, a 42 year old almost found out. He had taken medication after breaking his fast and developed a severe allergic reaction. His wife called Hatzalah and 911. Hatzalah EMTs arrived 2.5 minutes after the call and found the patient beet red, grasping at his throat, and starting to pass out. They injected him with an Epi-pen, which prevented the patient’s throat from completely closing and causing respiratory failure. A Baltimore County ambulance arrived, and the patient was transported to a hospital for further evaluation. Because of Hatzalah’s rapid response time, the responders were able to provide the vital medicine that saved this patient’s life.
Hatzalah has been there to offer critical, life-saving assistance for all those in need. Hatzalah was there for the 95-year-old woman, whose airway needed to be suctioned out so she could breathe. And Hatzalah was there for the newborn baby who stopped breathing one Shabbos afternoon for no apparent reason. With Hashem’s help, Hatzalah has been there for the community 24/7/365 since March 2007. Through the first 11 months of 2009, Hatzalah has responded to 880 calls with almost 400 patients being transported to local hospitals via ambulance. We’ve responded to chest pain, heart attacks, signs of stroke, choking, severe bleeding, broken arms, legs, and hips, lacerations, diabetic emergencies, car accidents, asthma attacks, and allergic reactions.
Hatzalah is proud of its accomplishments. But we can do more. The city is working on the final wording to grant Hatzalah permission to provide Advanced Life Support (ALS) transportation. Recently, Hatzalah responded to a person suffering from severe internal bleeding, who had no palpable pulses in her arms, no measurable blood pressure and needed to be transported to a hospital emergently. The only life saving treatment Hatzalah could provide the woman was to place her in a shock position and provide oxygen therapy. Once we receive approval from the city to provide ALS services we can start IVs, administer other life saving medication and provide transportation all within minutes of a call for Hatzalah services. We have 6 certified Paramedics, and are in the process of ordering two new ambulances. This is where you can help. Our current budget is $100,000 a year. With ambulance maintenance, ALS equipment and medications, Shabbos drivers, fuel, and insurance, we anticipate that our budget will grow to approximately $175,000.
We have raised over half of the money needed to purchase the ambulances required by the city in order to begin providing this critical service. We are extremely grateful to the Vaad Hakashrus of Baltimore/ Star-K for their very generous donation towards the purchase of our ambulances. There are still some dedications available.
Hatzalah is here to serve the Baltimore community. Whether or not an individual has used Hatzalah, whether or not a family member or friend has used Hatzalah, the fact that Hatzalah responders are two minutes away provides a sense of security to every member of our community. Help us help you! On behalf of the Hatzalah Board and volunteers, thank you for your attention, concern and support. Avrahom D. Sauer Dovid Chaim Heyman President Executive Director
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