Local community services respond rapidly to road accident

Road accidents happen all the time and most of us encounter them when traffic backs up and first responders are on scene. An accident happened outside my offices today at about midday and two local community organisations were on scene within 10 to 15 minutes to provide assistance.

A passing motorist (in the BMW, kudos to them too!) and SWAP security were on the scene almost immediately. The SWAP security patrolman called in medical assistance right away and stood guard until the Hatzolah ambulance arrived, waving off traffic and clearing a path for the medical team to park and get started.

You may not have heard of these two organisations so here is a little bit about them:

SWAP is an innovative, multi-faceted anti-crime initiative designed to proactively combat crime, utilizing a mix of early identification, counter-observation, surveillance and static and mobile armed patrols. SWAP is endorsed by inter alia, the Station Commissioners of Norwood and Bramley Police Stations, the Norwood CPF and the CSO.

CSO, one of the organisations which is heavily involved in SWAP and its sister body, CAP, is the Jewish community’s security organisation tasked with securing Jewish facilities and the Jewish community as a whole.

Haztolah is another community organisation staffed by dedicated volunteers:

Hatzolah Medical Rescue, Johannesburg, was started in 1998 to assist the existing medical emergency services in the area, which are under enormous strain. The organisation is staffed by a group of Torah observant Jewish volunteers and is provided as a free service to all Jewish people within our operating areas.

Seeing representatives of these two organisations respond so quickly inspires more than a little pride in these two organisations and the members of the Jewish community who are hard at work serving the local community, in this particular case irrespective of religious affiliation. Today, this motorist needed help. SWAP and Hatzolah were there to provide it and in 20 minutes it will all be over and these everyday heroes will be helping someone else in need.