14 | JUNE 24 • 2021 

OUR COMMUNITY

“H

atzalah. What’s your 
emergency?”
Residents of Oak Park, 
Southfield and Huntington Woods have a 
trusted number to call in times of crisis — 
Hatzalah of Michigan, whose volunteers read-
ily and willingly put their lives on pause to 
respond to emergency calls, often leaving their 
jobs, homes or child’s birthday party to provide 
lifesaving care to their neighbors.
Hatzalah, which partners with the Oakland 
County Medical Control Authority (OCMCA), 
the Southfield Fire Department, Oak Park 
Public Safety and Alliance Mobile Health, is 
a team of state-certified Emergency Medical 
Services (EMS) volunteer responders who 
stand at the ready 24-7 to respond to local 
emergencies.
The 17 volunteer Emergency Medical 
Technicians (EMT) and 25 volunteer dispatch-
ers are made up of city council members, rab-
bis, teachers, fitness instructors, corporate ana-
lysts and other professionals, moms and dads 
and neighbors, who drop everything to respond 
quietly and without fanfare to those in need.

Hatzalah’s volunteer EMTs 
can arrive to save lives
in less than 2 minutes.
Doorstep

continued on page 16

JACKIE HEADAPOHL DIRECTOR OF EDITORIAL

JERRY ZOLYNSKY PHOTOGRAPHY

Launched in fall 2017, Hatzalah of 
Michigan (also known as Detroit Hatzalah) 
is state-licensed and regulated by the 
OCMCA, which oversees all EMS person-
nel in the county. Hatzalah personnel are 
licensed EMS providers, who are further 
advised by a panel of doctors and have 
trained with fire and ambulance personnel. 
Once licensed, volunteers continue their 
education with monthly trainings led by 
local doctors.
Hatzalah is designed to complement
the emergency response services of their 
communities — not compete with them. 
Because Hatzalah volunteers are embedded 
within the community, they can often reach 
the person who needs help in less than 2 
minutes, compared to the 5-to-7-minute 
response time of the local EMS. Sometimes, 
those seconds can mean the difference 
between life and death.

HATZALAH BACKGROUND
The first Hatzalah began in Brooklyn, N.Y., 
by Rabbi Hershel Weber in the late 1960s. 
Weber was in shul when he witnessed 
someone having a heart attack. It took EMS 
nearly 20 minutes to arrive, and Weber 
stood there and watched as the man died 
because there was no one there to help him. 
Weber made a promise to himself that he 
would never be caught in that situation 
again. He created the organization made up 
of volunteer medics. His concept has since 

Heroes
at Your

ON THE COVER

