Message from Clive Breger
HR DIRECTOR
After a decade of service in this
unbelievable organization, it is with a huge
amount of gratitude that I look back at how
wehave flourished and grown.
My journey began in Hatzolah serving as a
volunteer responder. In 2009 my main
responsibility changed when I took on a
volunteer Human Resources directorship.
We have been incredibly fortunate to have
recruited the most amazing group of dedicated and committed
responders and dispatchers from our community. These individuals
have received extensive and often gruelling training in order to ensure
that they all attain the rigorous standards that are required of them.
Another project that has been hugely rewarding (although extremely
challenging and time consuming) wasmanaging the construction of our
new headquarters and home in Raedene. We are very blessed to now
have all our resources under one roof in a comfortable, state-of-the-art
environment.
It is a true honour to serve this organisation with such an outstanding
group of members on our board, responders, dispatchers and admin
staff. We look forward to continuing the growth of the organization that
is so dear to all our hearts.
Reuven Jacks
MEDICAL DIRECTOR
I joined Hatzolah over 14 years ago, close
to the very beginning of the organisation.
Originally, Hatzolah was a fledgling EMS
service, whose responders consisted of a
group of very keen and dedicated First
Aiders. But, as diligent as they were, they
were just first aiders, and the organisation
needed more advanced life support.
At that time, I was a junior doctor, but a
doctor, nevertheless. I had recently moved back to Johannesburg from
Cape Town, and my interests had always been in emergency medicine
and communal activities. In fact, throughout mymedical school career, I
would cover the medical side of larger Jewish events, in conjunction
with the CSO there. Given all this, I was a welcome addition to Hatzolah,
and I was made responsible for all the Advanced Life Support
requirements thatwe couldoffer at that stage.
Whilst my ambition was grandiose, Hatzolah's Advanced Life Support
services were limited, due to the limited equipment, limited backup
from the junior team who were not used to assisting in advanced
procedures, and yes, my limited years of experience as a doctor, and in
particular, as an emergency doctor.
But, we have all grown tremendously. Hatzolah has grown in both
number and skill of responders. Our advanced equipment has
surpassed that of other ambulance services, and we now havemultiple
personnel qualified as Advanced Life Support responders.
I, too, have grown over the fourteen or so years. My career path has B”H
constantly developed and changed. About 13 years ago, I went to the
United Kingdom where I worked as a GP. During that time, I missed my
Hatzolah work. When I came back to South Africa to work in the field of
emergency medicine, which was always close to my heart, I very much
enjoyed returning tomy volunteer work for Hatzolah too. As I worked in
Private casualties, I realised that I preferred my Hatzolah Pre-hospital
work to my In-hospital work. Because of this, I pursued a career in
“
Aviation Healthcare Provision” as a ‘flight doctor’. To this aim, I worked
on the local emergency medical helicopter service, as well as in fixed-
wingmedical evacuations fromAfrica and beyond.
It was during this time that I took on the position of Medical Director of
Hatzolah. I was assisted by other doctors who had subsequently joined
the organisation as volunteers. After about two years, I went to the USA
to get married, and to spend a few months in the USA. Due to the
prolonged period of absence from SA, I reluctantly handed over the
reins ofMedical Directorship toone of the other doctors.
A few months after I returned to SA, the existing medical director
resigned, and you can bet that I was very happy to once again take up
the post of Medical Director of such an amazing organisation. Over the
next few years, I trained and qualified as a Surgeon. Due tomy desire to
treat emergencies, I further specialised as a Trauma Surgeon, as which I
currently practice. Throughout all of this time, it has been an honour
and a privilege to be theMedical Director of Hatzolah, and to have been
part of its exponential growth. The proudest achievement in my career
is undoubtedly Hatzolah.
As Medical Director, I am ultimately responsible for all the medical
activities of the organisation. This includes all equipment, training,
protocols, quality control, etc. These activities are too many for me to
handle alone, but thanks to the excellent staff and medical managers
under my wing, most of the work is efficiently sorted, and I merely need
tooversee things.
Which was the most rewarding situation in my Hatzolah Career? Is it
too clichéd to say “there have been somany”? But if I had to choose just
one call, I would describe the following one. I must warn though, this
may not be for the faint-of-heart…..
One afternoon, Hatzolah received an urgent call to do an ICU transfer
from Hospital A to Hospital B, as Hospital A could not cope with the
patient’s condition. The referring doctor realised that time was of the
essence, and being a Jewish doctor, he was well aware of Hatzolah and
its response times. He called our dispatcher with the request. Since it
was an ICU transfer, which can often be quite complicated, the
dispatcher called me to confirm what resources would be necessary.
When I spoke to the referring doctor, he advisedme that the patient had
developed a sudden condition where blood accumulated in the sac
surrounding his heart. As a result, the heart could not pump properly
because it was being ‘squashed’ by the surrounding blood. The patient
urgently needed removal of this blood, or the heart would not be able
to pump properly. The local doctors had tried unsuccessfully to
evacuate this blood with a needle, but the blood had already started
clotting and the clots could not pass through the needle to be
evacuated. There was no cardiothoracic surgeon available to do a more
complex operation and hence the request for the urgent transfer to
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