Rockland Heroes Recognized by County Legislature

By Hamodia Staff

NEW YORK — On Wednesday evening, February 15, the Rockland County Legislature presented awards to several local Jews who heroically “just happened” to be in the right place, at the right time:

The awardees included Naftoli Schischa, a Hatzoloh of Rockland EMT who assisted a woman who fainted in the aisle while on board a plane travelling from New York to Florida; Heshy Leifer, a Hatzoloh of Rockland volunteer who provided medical assistance to a man while on board a flight from Morocco to New York; Usher Wieder, a bus driver for the Satmar mosdos, who went into Lake Suzanne to rescue a boy who had fallen through the ice, together with Chaverim and Hatzoloh volunteer Shloime Spira, as well as Hatzoloh paramedic Moshe Schuster, who also entered the water to assist in bringing the boy to shore and providing life-saving medical attention.

In an email after the ice-rescue, Westchester Medical Center, extolled the Hatzoloh members on the call:

“Just wanted to share a good job by Hatzoloh. 9-year-old _____________ near drowning after he fell through a frozen lake. He was almost fully submerged for 5-6 minutes, pulled out by Hatzoloh EMS. Hatzoloh did a great job removing wet clothing, starting an IV and giving warmed saline and covering patient with warm blankets and hot packs. When he arrived his body temp was 99.2!”

After presenting the awards, Legislator Aron Wieder said, “Hatzoloh volunteers represent the essence of what Hatzoloh does every day. The fact that they happened to be in the air instead of on the ground doesn’t actually make them any more of a hero. Hatzoloh volunteers are heroes every day, for every call – even when there’s no audience or photographer around.”

Of course, the three heroes jumping into a half-frozen lake to save a young child is out of the ordinary, and we all hope it doesn’t happen again.

Hatzoloh of Rockland CEO, Rabbi Yosef C. Golding, told Hamodia that Hatzoloh members usually shy away from publicity; the volunteer EMTs and paramedics we see flashing by with lights and sirens blaring don’t take pictures of their calls, and they usually just return home after a lengthy, serious call, ready for the next one.