Hospital B which had the facilities and the expertise – but time was of
the essence!
It was at that moment that I realised that Hatzolah could offer a service
that it never has before, and one that I doubt any other ambulance
service has ever been able to offer. You see, I was trained in this
procedure/operation to open the chest and remove the blood from
around the heart. Not only that, I happened tobe right near the hospital
at the time. So I asked if they wanted me to come and open the chest,
and receiving a resounding ‘YES!’ I arrived in the ICU about two
minutes later, knowing that the Hatzolah ambulance and crewwere on
their way to helpmewith the transport after the initially life-saving, but
temporary, procedure.
As I arrived in the ICU, I noticed the staff doing CPR. It seems that the
blood accumulation had just gotten too much, and the heart was not
pumping effectively anymore. Now, literally, seconds counted. Proudly
representing Hatzolah, I immediately performed the operation (in ICU),
opened up the chest and relieved the pressure around the heart.
Whilst this was a life-saving operation, it was certainly only a temporary
solution. The patient still needed urgent transfer to Hospital B. The
Hatzolah crew were already in the ICU and waiting with all the
necessary equipment to do the transport. Within a minute or two, we
had the patient in the ambulance and on the way to Hospital B, open
chest and all. On arrival to Hospital B, the entire ambulance crew
proceeded directly to the operating room where a surgical team was
already assembled and waiting, thanks to the up-to-date
communication between Hatzolah’s dispatcher and the receiving
surgeon. We transferred the patient from the ambulance stretcher
directly onto the operating room table, after which definitive surgery
was immediately commenced and our workwas over.
Message from Bernard Segal
OPERATIONS DIRECTOR
2014
has been an extremely exciting
year for the operations team. With our
move into Hatzolah House late in
2013,
we have consolidated and
upgraded our facilities. The new base
has raised our efficiency and given the
team an incredible sense of pride and
a place to call home.
We have redesigned the inside of our
ambulances (Call sign Alpha) and are
in the process of upgrading our fleet
(
see the article on our new
ambulances).
Albert (one of our dedicated Shabbos drivers) joined the Op’s team on
a full time basis and together with Oscar 1, an operations and logistics
vehicle, has greatly increased our efficiency and abilities.
On the equipment side, Hatzolah continues to introduce new additions
to our state of the art range of life-saving equipment and with new
technologies on the horizon for 2015 and the incredible ongoing
support of the community, we look forward tomaking the latest cutting
edge medical technology and lifesaving equipment available to the
community and to integrating it into our existing range of equipment
and treatment protocols
2014
also saw a rollout of new uniforms and PPE (personal protection
equipment) for the entire team. This comprised of flight suits, boots,
new jump vest, gloves and Bee suits, so our teams can safely respond to
emergencies involving swarms of Bees. We have also introduced
various disposable protective suits, face masks and splash guards for
treating highly infectious patients. In linewith this we also introduced a
comprehensive infection control policy, which covers the cleaning and
decontamination of our ambulance fleet and equipment on a regular
and consistent basis.
We have also joined the Red Cross Children’s Hospital Poison Database,
a source of instant information for our doctors and paramedics on the
ingredients and compositions of almost every household chemical and
product, the active ingredients, what treatments to start and what side
effects to look out for.
All in all, it has been a very busy year and we look forward to further ops
It is with a sense of pride and appreciation
thatwe reflect over the past year.
Once again Hatzolah has taken great strides
inmaintaining and enhancing its excellence
as aworld class emergencymedical service.
From the legal desk, I am able to take
comfort in the fact that Hatzolah maintains
the highest standards of corporate
governance, compliance, efficiencies and
accountability.
The move to our new premises has further
enabled our dedicated personnel of both
volunteers and employees toperformwith excellence.
Undoubtedly, however, the superb leadership qualities, insight, vision
and dedication of our CEO, Lance Abramson, and the unbelievable
generosity and dedication shown by the community (which is humbling
in the extreme) havebeen huge contributing factors.
As wemove through themonth of Elul toward Rosh Hashana, we reflect
on our achievements and are excited about our new projects, which we
hope will be launched in the new year, with a renewed energy - to be
injected by our newexpanded teamof responders and dispatchers.
Message from David Shapiro
LEGAL DIRECTOR
