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.
