18 | JUNE 24 • 2021

ers. Hatzalah volunteers know
that a Jew reluctant to violate
Shabbat rules when receiving
medical attention may be more
at ease and easily convinced of
the medical urgency when the
emergency responder is a fellow
Orthodox Jew.
“Hatzalah helps us out a great
deal with the Jewish community
when there is some hesitancy
or if there’s some misunder-
standings about the medical
treatment to be received,
” said
Oak Park Public Safety Director
Steven Cooper.
Soloff cites a recent example.
“We had an elderly gentleman
patient who was very, very hes-
itant. He didn’t trust doctors,
hospitals and EMS. He didn’t
want any care. But his family
knew me so they called and
asked me what to do,
” he said.
“I was able to call ahead to the
hospital and let the family know,
‘Hey, look, we’re taking care of
you. The hospital is going to be
on board with us working hand-
in-hand.
’ That alleviated a lot of
their concerns.
”
Schechter cited another
example that resulted in an
award for Hatzalah and the
Southfield Fire Department
from the Oakland County
Medical Authority.
“It was a mid-winter, gray
morning on 10 Mile,
” he said.
“
A man visiting from Israel was
hit by a car crossing the street
because of the low visibility.
”
Southfield first responders got
to the scene, but they couldn’t
communicate with him because
he spoke only Hebrew.

“The medic on scene called
into our dispatch, looking
for our help. Our dispatcher
told him Hatzalah volunteers
would meet them at the hos-
pital. There, they were able to
translate and reached out to the
man’s son in Israel for his med-
ical records, which was critical
because the man had a brain
bleed and surgeons couldn’t
operate without them. We were
able to translate those records
so he could be rushed into sur-
gery, which saved his life.
”
Hatzalah recently secured a
Lucas device. This easy-to-use
mechanical chest compression
device delivers high-quality,
consistent chest compres-
sions to sudden cardiac arrest
patients. “It has major success
rates at saving lives,
” Oseroff
said. “We’ve partnered with the
city of Oak Park, so if they have
someone who needs it, Hatzalah
will rush it to where it’s needed.
”
Although the lifesaving work
of the volunteers is critical,
Hatzalah MI offers even more,
such as CPR, babysitter and life-
guard training as well as safety
awareness. And working with
its partners, they’ve done much
to improve and safeguard the
public health of the community
they serve.

THE COVID PANDEMIC
“Nothing in 28 years of medical
practice ever could have pre-
pared me for what I was about
to see and do,
” Dr. McGraw said
of the COVID pandemic that
first hit in March 2020.
In the beginning, people

who thought they might be ill
with the disease were asked to
stay away from hospitals if they
could. As a result, Hatzalah vol-
unteers responded to numerous
calls, going to some patients’
homes multiple times.
“There was an increase in call
volume,
” Soloff said. “People
were short of breath and sick,
and we dealt with each call
using all the personal protective
equipment required by state and
county protocol so volunteers
wouldn’t get sick. From March
to May was the peak of it, quite
a busy time.
”
Although volunteers put
themselves at risk of catching
COVID, Soloff said that none
of them considered themselves
to be brave. “Because each one
of them doesn’t think about
themselves. These are people
who care about others and that’s
their mindset.
”
Kate Guzman, public
health administrator at the
Oakland County
Public Health
Department,
became a close
partner, according
to Soloff. Working
with Guzman,
Hatzalah volun-
teers were trained
to do the swabbing for COVID
testing, both rapid and over-
night testing, during the early
days of the pandemic.
“I learned how essential
Hatzalah is early in our part-
nership,” Guzman said. “We
work with them on COVID
testing and vaccination. They
help staff our events when we
need help. They are always
ready to help.”
Hatzalah volunteers helped

the health department with
swabbing people living
in assisted living facilities
throughout the county. “We
did a lot of swabbing together,”
Soloff said.
Hatzalah MI also partnered
with the Mayo Clinic and
other Hatzalah organizations
to offer COVID-19 IGG anti-
body testing in May 2020 to
identify candidates eligible to
donate plasma and save lives.
Results from their blood drive,
sponsored by TCF Bank,
determined 100 of those tested
had the antibodies needed
to donate plasma to COVID
patients.
Volunteers helped with
COVID swab testing for
young people going to camp
last summer; and, when the
vaccine became available,
Hatzalah volunteers would
help at vaccine clinics with
post-vaccine observation,
and, if at the end of day, there
were doses left over, Hatzalah
members would find people to
receive the vaccines so none
would go to waste.
When the vaccine became
widely available, Soloff said, the
only people who were under-
served were the homebound.
With the help of Dr. McGraw,
Hatzalah MI became the only
Hatzalah in the country autho-
rized to give in-home vaccines
to community members.
“I have never been more
proud of a group of peo-
ple that I worked with,” Dr.
McGraw said. “The way they
stood up, helped each other
and worked with one another
to get us through that. They
encountered personal and
community loss on an unprec-

continued from page 17

“HERE WAS A PERSON GASPING, AND I HAD THE TRAINING AND

EQUIPMENT TO GIVE OXYGEN. IT WAS THE MOST INCREDIBLE EXPERIENCE.”

— RABBI SHRAGIE MYERS

OUR COMMUNITY
ON THE COVER

Kate
Guzman