Sixteen years after the ZAKA Rapid Rescue Motorcycle Unit was established to offer an innovative and swift response to medical emergencies in busy urban streets, ZAKA inaugurated the Sall Family Unit in a dedication ceremony at ZAKA headquarters in Jerusalem, with the addition of six new fully equipped three-wheeler motorcycles.
The Sall Family Unit is named in memory of Dave Jerry Sall who donated five of the new motorcycles to the volunteer search and rescue organization through the services of his attorney, Stephan Cohen who was present at the dedication. Stephan Cohen came from Miami especially for the dedication ceremony, accompanied by his wife Sydney, and friends Malka and Jorge Mordutovich. The sixth motorcycle in the new Sall Family Unit was donated by Melodie and Martin Scharf from Lawrence, New York.
Veteran Jerusalem ZAKA Rapid Rescue volunteer and paramedic Shmuli Grossman, who gratefully received the keys of the bike presented by Sruli Jacobson on behalf of the Scharf family, noted that the ease and speed of negotiating city traffic on the bike saves lives: “Last Shabbat, I managed to reach someone within minutes who had lost consciousness. As a result, I was able to save his life.”
The donors’ representatives noted that it is they who should be thanking the volunteer paramedic riders, for being on call 24/7 to help save lives on the streets of Jerusalem and beyond.
The new three-wheeler motorbikes offer greater safety features for the volunteers, and carry all the necessary emergency medical equipment, including a defibrillator, allowing the paramedic riders to arrive first at the scene and offer assistance in most emergencies before the arrival of other emergency services.
Less than 24 hours after receiving his new motorcycle, ZAKA volunteer Azriel Schnitzer answered a call in Petach Tikva. “Sadly, we were not able to save a life on this occasion, but we ensured that the body was removed with dignity in line with Jewish law.”