Jewish ambulance workers seek relief

[pacman]

I just came across this article. I really don't know what to make of it since I don't know much about their organization.

Jewish ambulance workers seek relief

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

By MEREDITH MANDELL

HERALD NEWS

PASSAIC -- The director of a Jewish ambulance service said that city police need sensitivity training and a better understanding of what the organization does after a clash with police who attempted to tow an ambulance this week.

David Kaplan, 25, of Passaic, who founded the local branch of Hatzolah, an international ambulance corps staffed by volunteers in many orthodox Jewish neighborhoods, confronted police Sunday who had ticketed an ambulance parked the wrong way on Reid Avenue, around the corner from Hatzolah headquarters at 243 Van Houten Ave.

A group of people congregated in front of the ambulance at about 11 a.m. as five police cars and a tow truck arrived at the scene, Kaplan said. The tow truck operator was unable to tow the ambulance because of its size, he said.

"It's unheard of to tow an ambulance in any city," Kaplan said Tuesday. "It sort of leads us to believe there's selective enforcement going on."

Calls to police Chief Daniel Paton and Deputy Chief Matthew La Paz were not returned Tuesday. Spokesman Detective Andrew White said they had left the office and that he would not supply a copy of the police report.

"There was a traffic violation and a summons was issued. That's all I can comment on," White said.

Mayor Samuel Rivera said he was on the scene Sunday and thought the ambulance volunteers acted "belligerently" and that perhaps police responded too harshly.

"They were to going to be towed because they were parked in a dangerous position," Rivera said.

Rivera said he met Monday with Kaplan and Paton to try to resolve friction between police and the volunteers.

"I'm trying to work with them. My goal is for them to work with our (the city's) EMS," Rivera said, adding that part of the frustration with Hatzolah goes back more than two years.

In 2004, the city tried to shut down the ambulance service because it did not comply with a city ordinance requiring certification by the police director. The state, however, does not require certification of volunteer emergency medical service squads. A proposal to amend the city ordinance requiring certification was passed Tuesday night.

In addition, the city has offered Hatzolah to use city EMS headquarters to park Hatzolah's ambulances but Hatzolah has rejected the city's offer, Rivera said.

"They say they like to have ambulances parked closer to the Jewish Community," Rivera said.

Kaplan said that since his Hatzolah Emergency Medical Services of North Jersey began operating in 2003, he has had no problem with the police and that generally, the 30 volunteers have had a good relationship with city officials. But then last fall, he said, police began ticketing Hatzolah's three ambulances, with roughly 14 tickets received for improper parking in the fall. Ticketing stopped, Kaplan said, but started again recently, with seven or eight tickets issued in the past two weeks, he said. The matters have yet to be resolved in court, and Hatzolah hopes the city might waive the penalties if a solution can be reached.

The incident is the latest in the city's parking saga involving the 3rd Ward, where many Orthodox Jews live. An outcry has erupted among residents over the enforcement of alternate-side parking regulations in Third Ward Memorial Park, where traffic cops didn't previously ticket or tow vehicles. Hundreds of residents submitted a petition against towing to the City Council during a meeting earlier this month.

Kaplan said that volunteers keep the ambulances close to their homes to save the time it takes to get to a call, rotating stewardship of the ambulances among them.

Kaplan said the city should take into consideration the services Hatzolah provides to the community. Since the Passaic Beth Israel/St. Mary's Hospital merger in Passaic, the demand for Hatzolah's service has grown, he said. With overcrowding at the hospital, many patients request transportation to other hospitals further away.

Hatzolah supplements the city's taxed EMT services and can provide transportation to places where the city's EMTs do not transport people, he said.

Kaplan believes that police officers and city officials have misconceptions about Hatzolah, which led to the clash. He wants to dispel the notion that Hatzolah provides services only to the Jewish community.

"We don't discriminate whatsoever, we take anyone," he said.

Reach Meredith Mandell at (973) 569-7100 or mandell@northjersey.com.

[JPINFV]

Wah. :roll:

My company had an ambulance ticketed at the local university hospital a few months ago (I saw it as I was going to my research group). Maybe the hospital hates private companies.

OR

The ambulance was parked in a stupid area illegally after the hospital has sent out a poster sized map of the facility showing exactly where we are supposed to park and he wasn't parked in one of the spots.

So, was this case an example of discrimination or a stupid ambulance driver?

[EMSGeek]

Hatzolah is a very special group of people. Very, very special. Some of our NYC providers already know about them.

[MeekoBB]

Darn it! I was just going to post this!

Pacman, where in NNJ are you from?

[katbemeEMT-B]

What a bunch of whiners. I got a parking ticket while on call too. I had to go to my son's school for a meeting and the closest legal parking was two blocks away. That's a hell of a run if my pager goes off. I made the choice to park where I wasn't supposed to and the cop gave me a ticket. I didn't bitch. I went straight down to the police station, asked how much I owed, (personal vehicle), and paid the ticket. The chief asked why I parked there. I told him why and he said he probably would have done the same thing. Oh well! I didn't do it again though.

Pay the damn tickets and find some place else to park.

[mediccjh]

They answer to a Higher Authority.

[EMSGeek]

They answer to a Higher Authority.

Sometimes it certainly seems that way. Protocols, procedures, and quality care seem to be things which their authority doesn't value.

[JPINFV]

They answer to a Higher Authority.

1. That's Hebrew National hotdogs.

2. While I can't comment directly on the ambulance company, Hebrew National does make some pretty good hot dogs.

[MeekoBB]

1. That's Hebrew National hotdogs.

2. While I can't comment directly on the ambulance company, Hebrew National does make some pretty good hot dogs.

I like weiner dogs....

[mordy.emt]

Hatzolah is a great orgaization. However the wat they operate sometimes draws the ire of the local municipality. What passaic PD is doing is wrong.