Hatzola

Of course there is no way we can have a few fun days away without the odd calamity happening. Sunday evening, after a little family soiree we were sitting having a bit of supper with the family and my older son was sitting on my lap. He'd been a bit under the weather during the day but nothing you could put your finger on, a bit hot, not eating much, but nothing overly unusual in a 4 year old. Certainly not enough to make me think he was ill. Suddenly he coughed and before I knew it he was having a seizure. Now this was a first for us, as hes been a very super healthy child with no more than the odd cold from nursery. So I sat there as calm as they come and announced to the whole table, what was going on. This was rather outside my experience actually so when someone said "call Hatzola" I sort of thought it might be a good idea.

Within 5 minutes Hatzola arrived. Like some sort of caped Jewish Super Heroes they arrive on your doorstep ready to give full medical assistance. Although these are members of the orthodox community, they do this on a totally voluntary basis and manage to cut what would be half an hour into a matter of minutes waiting time. They are fully trained paramedics with every bit of equipment available and provide a truly unique and wonderful service. While concerned for the well being of my son, I wasn't frantic. Lets face it I'm not really in a position to jump up and panic and its much harder to be beside yourself with worry when you are sitting down somehow! So anyway to cut a long story short, they whisked him off to hospital with his father and some supporting family while I sat at home with the baby and other family members. I'm pleased to say he seems to be totally fine and as the doctor said at the time we have no reason to think it will happen again at this stage, its not that unusual in young children, Whew thank goodness for that, and I later discovered I'd won the Nobel Prize for Staying Calm!