Dear Mr. and Mrs. Morgenstern,

My name is Benzion Novack. I am a volunteer paramedic for Hatzalah B'Ramah, in Ramat Beit Shemesh. The ambulance that you donated to our community in memory of your daughter, Nancy, has had a tremendous impact on the entire area. It is the only ambulance in Ramat Beit Shemesh. I would like to share with you just a few stories that come to mind. I was personally involved in each of these stories, and they all occurred in the last few weeks.

• One night, close to midnight, I got a call from a mother who was frantic. Her three-week old baby daughter, Ayala, had stopped breathing and had turned blue. I immediately called two other volunteer paramedics who live on her block.Tthey got to the baby — in their pajamas — within one minute. I hopped into the ambulance and was there within 3 minutes. The two other paramedics were administrating CPR, and I brought life-saving equipment from the ambulance, including an oxygen tank. Ayala, thank G-d, survived and is well. The closest other ambulance in the area that night was at least ten minutes away. We saved Ayala's life.
   
• There was a young woman who was having contractions ten minutes apart. The closest hospital is about 45 minutes away. We took her in the ambulance. On the highway, the baby started to come. When we delivered the baby, the cord was wrapped around his neck twice, very tightly. The baby was blue and could not breathe. Had the mother taken a cab to the hospital, I have great doubts whether her baby boy would have survived. Not to mention the damage it could have caused the mother.
   
• A 45 year old woman from Moshav Aderet (near Ramat Beit Shemesh) was riding a horse alone in the mountains. Somehow, she got thrown from the horse. She got a major cut on her head, 10 to 12 centimeters long and very deep. She was bleeding profusely. She somehow managed to walk about a kilometer to the main road where someone called the ambulance. We bandaged her, gave her an IV, and rushed her to the shock trauma unit of Hadassah hospital in Jerusalem. She had suffered a concussion and received 17 stitches. She thanked us for saving her life.
   
• A woman was boiling hot water for coffee. Somehow, the steaming hot water spilled all over her one and a half year old baby boy's chest and stomach. We got to them within two minutes. The baby and mother were both screaming hysterically. The baby had a second-degree burn. We used a special gel we keep in the ambulance to treat burns and wrapped it up on his chest and stomach. In the meantime, we calmed the mother down and told her to quickly get dressed to go with us to the hospital. In the ambulance, we gave the baby toys to play with,which greatly calmed him down. (We keep toys in the ambulance because there are so many children in the area; we treat many children and the toys really help). We arrived quickly at Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem. The doctor there told me that had we not given him such quick treatment and had we not gotten him to the hospital so fast, the burn would have been 60-70% worse than it was and his recovery would have been so much more lengthy and painful.

These stories happen all the time. Thank you for your generosity. Your ambulance has really made a difference to us. May Nancy's memory be blessed and may you know no more sorrow.

Yours truly,
Benzion Novack