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

