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15 Teves 5761 - January 10, 2001 | Mordecai Plaut, director Published Weekly
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NEWS
Hatzoloh Hatzlocho
by A. Cohen

HaRav Shmuel Wosner gave his blessings to more than 200 Hatzoloh EMT volunteers at a nationwide training conference last week. In solving a unique identification mystery, Hatzoloh once again showed its mesirus nefesh for the Jewish people.

The purpose of the meeting, held in the Bnei Brak Vizhnitz Hotel, was to strengthen Hatzoloh volunteers in their dedicated work in saving human lives, as well as to enrich their knowledge in the halachic and medical aspects of their work. HaRav Shmuel Wosner spoke about chilul Shabbos for the sake of saving lives, saying that the Hatzoloh members are those who have merited this mitzvah. "I personally know of many cases in which human lives were saved through the merit of these volunteers." He then detailed at length the special activities of Hatzoloh, done with all their hearts.

HaRav Wosner noted that knowledge of the technical aspects of first aid is insufficient. One must devote his heart and soul to the work. He closed with warm blessings, saying: "You are the shlichei tzibbur of klal Yisroel. You save the Jewish Nation and Hakodosh Boruch Hu will save you and your families from all misfortune. May it be Hashem's will that you and all Yisroel be spared from all difficult hours and that Hashem's chessed will prevail from now on and we merit to emerge from the golus and from the difficult situation prevailing in the country."

HaRav Wosner blessed the staff of doctors and Mogen Dovid Adom crew who participated in the meeting, and thanked Rabbi Moshe Evron, director of the Hadera region, for the kiddush Shem Shomayim of the members of Hatzoloh in Hadera during the recent terrorist attack.

The meeting was moderated by Dr. Yitzchok Roth, member of the Hatzoloh organization, who opened with words of encouragement for the volunteers taken from the parsha. He spoke about a successful resuscitation that had been conducted the previous day on a 102-year-old in Bnei Brak.

HaRav Shmuel Eliezer Stern, the rav of Hatzoloh, described the uniqueness of Hatzoloh, in that everything is done according to pure da'as Torah; in every question its members ask a rav. He strengthened all of the members, urging them to continue their review of the halochos pertinent to their activities, saying that in this merit they will bring succor to all of the ailing of the Jewish Nation.

HaRav Asher Zemel, rav of the Lev HaSharon area, came especially to the gathering in order to publicize the miracle that had occurred to his son when he was hurt in a serious traffic accident. "You reached us in a matter of moments, and in the merit of your immediate medical treatment, irrevocable damage was prevented and he recovered quickly from his injuries." He also thanked the Mogen Dovid team as well as the medical team that had treated his son and were present at this gathering.

The volunteers heard lectures by expert doctors in the fields of neuro-surgery and trauma from the Tel Hashomer- Sheba Hospital. Dr. N. Knoller discussed the topic of injuries, especially head injuries and emergency cases. Dr. Z. Feldman spoke about pediatric illness and pathology. Dr. N. Margalit delivered a lecture on anatomy and physiology of the head and spine.

Dr. Mordechai Barzel, chairman of Hatzoloh, closed the proceedings, warmly thanking the volunteers for their efforts throughout the year -- including Shabbosim and holidays -- and for their tremendous mesirus nefesh to save lives. He closed with a promise to hold additional meetings to update the members' understanding in the fields of medical emergencies as well as the halochos of saving lives.

Not long before this, when the Hatzoloh volunteers received the call on their beepers about the victim of an accident on the corner of Rabbi Akiva-Rav Kook Streets in Bnei Brak, they had no idea what they would undergo that night. Chiddushim on Yevomos were the only identifying documents on a yeshiva student injured late at night in a severe traffic accident, and brought to the hospital unconscious.

Close to midnight, the student was hit in a car accident, and flung onto the road. Hatzoloh volunteers -- on the site almost immediately -- gave first aid. They also summoned an Intensive Care ambulance, which transferred the victim to Ichilov Hospital. No one had any information as to the victim's identity.

All night, the Hatzoloh staff tried to ascertain the identify of the victim -- who bore no identification -- so that they could inform his family. A special crew was sent to the hospital to try to find identifying marks on his clothes. It became clear that the only identifying document was a copy of handwritten chiddushim on maseches Yevomos.

The Hatzoloh volunteers rushed to one of the large yeshivos in Bnei Brak where this tractate is currently being studied. They asked the students to come to the hospital to identify the young man. When they couldn't identify him, the Hatzoloh volunteers, assisted by additional yeshiva students, went to several other yeshivos in the city where Yevomos is being learned.

In the early hours of the morning, with the victim still unidentified, chain calls were made to yeshivaos throughout the city to inquire if any student was absent and to inform them about the injured young man. At ten in the morning, Hatzoloh arrived in a yeshiva that had reported a missing student, bringing the chiddushim with them. The Rosh Yeshiva recognized the student's handwriting and went to the hospital to identify him. Upon making a positive identification, the Rosh Yeshiva took upon himself to inform the boy's family of their son's serious injury.

With chasdei Shomayim and because of the medical treatment the accident victim received, the bochur's situation has improved markedly and he has regained consciousness. He will remain hospitalized until his situation stabilizes.

The Hatzoloh administration advises people to take identifying documents with them when they go out. "This is the second case within a month where we were unable to identify an injured person," they noted.

 

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