The Ezras Nashim Controversy

Judge Ruchie Freier and Hatzalah (YWN)

Cultural bias will often lead to bad judgment. This can get in the way of doing the right thing. Which can lead to deadly consequences. Even if that judgment is made by honorable rabbis with the best of intention that are backed by sound Halachic references.

I believe this is the case with the current controversy surrounding Ezras Nashim, the all female EMT ambulance service in New York founded by Judge Ruchie Freier. As the a headline in a YWN article (which in my view can only be seen as a ‘hit piece’) says: Neighborhood Rabbonim Come out in Solidarity Against “Ezras Nashim.

The reason for this kind of opposition is unclear.  According to the article it is based on (among other things) claims of a slower response time made by this organization and opposition from both Hatzoloh and commercial ambulance providers in the New York area.

I have heard some of the negative comments about Ezras Nashim. Mostly having to do with their inability to perform their jobs as efficiently as men. There are also Halachic issues. (For a detailed analysis see here.)

Here is how I see it. Ezras Nashim was created for the purpose of helping women that feel uncomfortable when men attend to their needs – which often require measures that might otherwise be serious violations of Halacha. Such as doing a gynecological exam when medically indicated. Hatzalah correctly claims that when medically indicated a man may not only perform such examinations he is required to do so. If a male EMT would refuse to do so for ‘modesty’ reasons, that would make him a Chasid Shoteh – a pious fool!

The problem with this using this Halacha to justify rabbinic opposition to Ezeas Nashim is that it does not change the discomfort level of a woman who has been inundated with a lifetime being taught not to expose even the hair on her head (if she is married) to a man. Now she is being suddenly asked to expose the most private parts of her body. Here is how Celia Pomerantz, a nurse that volunteers for Ezras Nashim put it: 

“We are taught that certain parts of our bodies must be private and cannot be seen or touched by another man, except our husbands … this is the culture of modesty...” 

Having been raised in a culture like this - even if they are aware that a medical emergency overrides modesty concerns, they may still feel so uncomfortable that they will at first resist it. even if they eventually are convinced to allow it, by then precious time has passed that may endanger her life.

If I remember correctly Hatzalah was first approached with the idea of having female EMTs as part of their EMT team. Their Poskim  refused to allow it - claiming that a mixed group of EMTs would be improper. They probably feared that being together in a close knit group on an ambulance might lead to forbidden relationships. 

It was at that point that Judge Freier decided to act and founded Ezras Nashim.  Which was not all that accepted by these same rabbis. And apparently still isn’t. 

I truly cannot understand why they would have any Halachic objections to an all female EMT service. It almost sounds misogynistic! There is surely no Halachic issue with it. Nevertheless there is rabbinic opposition. Here is how Judge Freier responded: 

Ezras Nashim enjoys the warm support of many rabbis, including such giants as Rabbi Chaim Kanievski, Rabbi Eli Dov Wachtfogel, Rabbi Yaakov Hillel and Rabbi Moshe Bransdorfer as well as many other Torah personalities who have asked to remain anonymous due to the political consequences.

(T)here is still a significant void in first-response EMS in the orthodox Jewish community which Ezras Nashim needs to fill, namely a proper and dignified emergency pre-hospital care for women provided by women. 

Nothing better illustrates that need than does an incident that actually happened. Here is the story from Kalanit Taub, a new EMT with United Hatzalah in Israel. From the Rare View website:

The incident occurred recently at 1:00 a.m. in the morning. I was just about to finish an ambulance shift with United Hatzalah when we received an emergency alert that a woman near our location was having gynecological issues. Together with the rest of the male ambulance crew, we rushed over to the woman’s house. 

Two male EMTs had beaten the ambulance to the location and were already present inside the woman’s home. However, the pregnant woman was sitting alone and did not want any men to come in and examine her. Her delicate situation was made even more delicate by the fact that only men had arrived to help for an issue that she wanted to keep as private as possible.

As the only female EMT present, I approached her and closed the door behind me in order to give her back some privacy. She was bleeding intensely. I treated her and informed the ambulance crew that this was a “scoop and run” incident and that they should get the ambulance ready for immediate transport.

As a team, we got her on a chair, covered her and rushed her onto the ambulance. In less than five minutes we had her at the hospital and rushed her into the emergency room. With situations such as these, every minute is important, and getting her to the hospital ASAP was critical. 

I don’t think there can be any doubt that the woman in this story could have easily lost her life if not for the female EMT that was there at the time. (It is also interesting to note that unlike New York, apparently Israeli Poskim seem to have no problem with female EMTs working for Hatzoloh.) 

I also do not buy the argument  that a Hatzoloh ambulance has a historically proven shorter response time than an Ezras Nashim ambulance. Even if there is anecdotal evidence for it. No 2 circumstances are the same. The only way to measure it is if they are both equally equipped and are both asked at the same time to respond to the same scene. A scenario that would need repeated many times in order to be fairly judged. In any case, it is my view that if a woman wants an all female team to respond to her emergency, that should be her right. A right that may save her life.