Ultra-Orthodox Ambulance Service Faces Scrutiny After 7-Year-Old Girl Drowns
A Hatzolah ambulance crew responds to a fire in a synagogue on the Upper East Side of New York City in July. Image by Getty
By Ari Feldman August 25, 2017
Hatzolah, private ambulance service run by ultra-Orthodox Jews, is being accused of failing to notify police after a 7-year-old girl drowned in New York’s Rockland County.
Responders from Hatzolah took the girl, who drowned in a private pool in Pomona, New York, to a local medical center. Police have ruled the death an accident.
Police investigators say that it took several days before law enforcement was notified about the girl’s death. Investigators allege that the ambulance drivers took the girl to the hospital without notifying any public emergency services.
A Rockland County official told News 12 that there have been multiple incidents in which residents have used the private service to deal with emergencies without notifying local police. Hatzolah told News 12 that they notify police whenever necessary.
Local lawmakers have proposed making it illegal to not report emergencies like this to the county.
Contact Ari Feldman at [email protected] or on Twitter @aefeldman.
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