A group of women in New York have launched their own emergency medical response team, similar to Hatzalah. They say they will focus on women in labor, so women will feel comfortable calling them rather than men that they might see around the neighborhood and later feel uncomfortable around, but there is no indication that they will limit their work to calls from women in labor. And I hope they don't.

When someone calls a hatzala-type organization, there is often no time to grill them on what is wrong and then to try to figure out who to send or to tell them to call a different organization. If you are taking emergency phone calls, you have to deal with whatever comes in, though there would be nothing wrong with making it known in advance that for labor issues they should be the preference but not for other issues.

The women behind Ezras Nashim, the new EMT service, say that this has finally become necessary, and it is not a new idea, because Hatzalah refuses to allow women to join their ranks as EMTs. Hatzalah says they do not accept women because of tzniyus issues - men and women working side by side "could lead to improper relationships".

that might be true and is definitely a reasonable concern. Hatzalah could possibly alleviate that by forming all-female teams. Or maybe there are other solutions. I know that there are some towns in Israel, not many but some, in which Hatzala does allow females to be EMTs and work shifts just like the men. Speaking of which, I wonder if in those communities they have noticed a problem of such improper relationships being formed.

If women want to volunteer and are not included and not given the outlet, there is nothing wrong with them forming their own organization through which to do so.

Hopefully Ezras Nashim will be successful and spur existing organizations to find ways to include women.