A volunteer with Hatzolah, the Jewish emergency medical service, responded to a traffic accident in Toms River, New Jersey. As he approached one of the injured people to provide medical assistance, the patient reportedly told him: "Get me the real 911. I don't want your kind touching me."
The volunteer respected the injured man's request and contacted dispatch to ask for assistance from Toms River's emergency medical services. Several minutes later, two more volunteers arrived on behalf of the local 911 service. Both were Orthodox Jews. They identified themselves as emergency responders, but the patient again refused their assistance, repeating: "I don't want your kind touching me. I want the real 911."
‘I don’t want your kind touching me’: NJ crash victim repeatedly rejects Orthodox Jewish medics
(Photo: Reuters)
The responders waited for non-Orthodox emergency medical personnel from Toms River. When they arrived, they examined the injured man and called for paramedics. But the two paramedics who subsequently reached the scene were also bearded Hasidic Jews wearing traditional religious clothing. The remarkable sequence continued at the hospital, where the patient discovered that the nurse assigned to care for him was an Orthodox Jewish woman.
Booky Kaluszyner, who shared the incident in a Facebook post, said the episode illustrated how hatred and prejudice can blind people to the point of delaying or rejecting urgently needed medical treatment rather than accepting help from their Orthodox Jewish neighbors. He noted that the volunteers had left their families, their jobs and their dinner tables to assist a stranger without asking about his religion.
A day after publishing the account, Kaluszyner issued a clarification following comments that began drawing comparisons between Hatzolah and other emergency services. He explained that his intention had been to highlight the blindness caused by hatred, not to disparage, diminish or disrespect Toms River's emergency medical services.
Kaluszyner also expressed his gratitude to all the emergency organizations operating in the township, including police officers, firefighters, paramedics, social workers, dispatchers, volunteers and paid emergency personnel. "When there's a call for help, nobody cares who gets the credit. The only thing that matters is getting that person the help they need," he wrote.
He concluded with a message of unity, emphasizing that emergency workers arrive on what may be the worst day of someone's life to save lives, without asking whom the patient voted for or what they believe. For that, he wrote, they deserve the utmost respect.