Share your hatzola stories (new title)

mommy3b2c

Wed, May 13 2015, 2:26 pm

questioner wrote:

Bumping this purely out of curiosity. I don't know anything about the inner workings of Hatzalah, but I would think that they should bill insurance whereever possible as a legal and well-deserved funding source instead of relying on donations for money that is "coming to them". Are they scared that people without insurance won't call them?

Why would they be scared of that? You're a little confused. It's the people who need them, not the other way around. You are not doing them a favor by calling them. And who said they feel money is "coming to them"?

morningsickness

Wed, May 13 2015, 2:55 pm

I have used the local Hatzalah here in Israel numerous times. When 7 months pregnant with ds, I thought my waters broke on a shabbos night. I asked a neighbour to call my husband, and someone also called Hatzalah. Even though I wasn't sure whether I really needed them, they came within seconds! recommended I go by ambulance to hospital. They then drove me to the ER, and made sure I was well taken care of. I couldn;t thank them enough, and I asked them to please thank their wives for me. One man came straight from shul and didn't even have a chance to let his wife know where he's going!

Second time, I had an unexpected homebirth. We called an ambulance and for some reason it took them a while to come. However, they had volunteers over on motorbikes within 2 min. One of the hatzalah guys was extrememly knowladgble about ways to relieve my labour pains, and managed to deliver me in a modest, repsecrable manner. They then transported me and baby to the hospital. They were kind, supportive and respectful of my wishes.

I've called them twice more when ds had a habit of crying so hard he would faint. They arrived and even though he would be fine by then, they checked him thouroughly and reassured us. Another time ds choked on an apple piece on a shabbos afternoon. I had my DH call them right away, as I knew thattime is of essence in a choking case. While DH was on the phone with the operator, I was banging ds on his back, on my knees. B"h, the piece dislodged by itslef and DH told operator that everything was now ok and no reason for them to come. Well, a few moments later hatzala knocked at the door just to make sure that everything was really ok. And we had interrupted their shabos naps too...

questioner

Wed, May 13 2015, 7:14 pm

mommy2b2c wrote:

I know that they don't need patients, I'm just trying to understand the reasoning behind this.

Quote:

Boro park hatzalah is having such a difficult time funding that they are considering billing insurance. In order to prevent it from happening, they work really hard at their fund raisers and so far they have been successful.

Why is billing insurance at all a b'dieved?

And by money coming to them, I meant insurance money for a transport that is legally theirs.

the world's best mom

Wed, May 13 2015, 8:53 pm

I once wrote about this story here, but I'm happy to share again.

My dh is on Hatzalah. Last year, on Yom Kippur, dh dispatched from midnight til 4 am, which is the worst shift of the year, but he does it almost every year. It makes it much harder to get through Yom Kippur davening after being up most of the night, and while fasting. He checked on my kids before he left, and they were all fine. Then at 12:10, my oldest dd came into my room and said dd2 had fallen out of bed and was crying. I told her to tell dd2 to come into dh's empty bed. They both came in, and dd1 said, "And by the way, she's bleeding by her eye."

I took her to the kitchen where it was light, and saw that her whole face was bloody. I found a big gash on her head, so I called Hatalah. Dh answered and said, "We'll send someone over right away." He didn't want to leave the base with only one dispatcher unless he first confirmed that it was necessary.

His friend came over and called him to say, "Come home, bring the ambulance, and you'll want to get a plastic surgeon for this one." She needed 4 stitches.

B"H she is fine, though she does have a scar. We got back from the hospital around 2 something, so dh went back to finish dispatching.

seeker

Wed, May 13 2015, 9:44 pm

GAH! They'd have to pick yom kippur to gash their eyes out, wouldn't they. My stitches were erev pesach, the anaphylaxis was on purim (which actually wasn't a coincidence; Purim is a chaotic day for food) and almost every single asthma/breathing episode was on Shabbos or Yom Tov (I believe the first was on Pesach... there was something on Rosh Hashana I think... these kids...)

And TWBM's DH was there at least half those times. He is the best. Smile

the world's best mom

Thu, May 14 2015, 3:47 am

seeker wrote:

Thanks.

We have had our share of Shabbos and Y"T emergencies. It seems like more babies are born on Friday/Shabbos than any other day of the week too. The more complicated things are, the more fun, right?

Chayalle

Thu, May 14 2015, 7:26 am

About 10 years ago, I had to call Hatzalah. it was an hour before Shabbos and I was serving kugel to my kids, when I accidentally dropped a corelle saucer. The plate shattered to a gadzillion pieces and a shard flew against my eye. Suddenly my eye was bleeding!

I called Hatzalah and they were there in minutes. They took me to a frum eye surgeon (Dr. Rothkopf) who examined my eye, determined there was no shard in it (it must've scratched it but did not penetrate B"H.) He treated and bandaged my eye, and they had me home in time for Shabbos.

Neither the doctor nor Hatzalah ever sent me a bill.

June

Thu, May 14 2015, 9:20 am

questioner wrote:

Why is billing insurance at all a b'dieved?

And by money coming to them, I meant insurance money for a transport that is legally theirs.

The Hatzolah I worked with was very hesitant about the whole thing in the beginning because they weren't sure how the community would react. BH I think it was well-received. I don't really keep up with their billing anymore, but I'm assuming it's working out.

I thank Hashem every day that I have never needed to call Hatzolah.

sourstix

Thu, May 14 2015, 9:48 am

all I can say is kudos to hatzala and their wives and families! I can only thank you. words are not enough. I did protest any negative on the other thread. I just dont know where to find it. dont listen to the negativity. even moshe rabbainu was spoken badly about. so know that anywhere there is good there will be those who will try to bash, thats the nature of the beast. good pp will see the good for itself. keep your head held high. if they cant see the good its their loss. dont even bother. all of us imamothers are cheering for hatzala and their wives and families. may hashem return to you all the selfless devotion and dedication this entails. from a appreciative reciever of hatzala.