טיפול בגוי בשבת

1. The practical answer is clear cut: one should treat a gentile exactly as one treats a Jew, and no change is allowed if such a change could endanger the patient. This was the clear ruling of both Rabbi Moshe Feinstein and Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach. 2. You may be allowed to get help from a shabbos goy, and in some cases it is even recommended. In response to questions regarding the use of beepers, cellular telephones, and regular telephones on shabbos, the following excerpts from Professor Abraham S. Abraham's, Comprehensive Guide to Medical Halachah (new, revised edition). Telephone: 10:51-55, 26:8a 10:51 – If a telephone must be used on the Sabbath on behalf of a seriously ill patient (see ch. 1, para. 1), the receiver should be lifted off the hook in an indirect or unusual manner, such as by using both hands. 10:52 – Unlike writing (see para. 56 below), there is no need to minimize the number of words spoken over the telephone on the Sabbath on behalf of the seriously ill patient (see ch. 1, para. 1), and one may also add “Good morning” and “Thank you.” However, conversation should be limited to that which is related to the patient’s care. 10:53 – When the call is finished the receiver should be replaced, even if the phone is no longer needed, because if not replaced, the telephone of the physician or the ambulance station will remain disconnected and thereby unavailable for both outgoing and incoming calls. 10:54 – One may call a non-observant physician in preference to an observant one if the patient has greater trust in him, even though the latter can be called without having to set aside the Sabbath laws and the former would desecrate the Sabbath unnecessarily (that is, by acts that are unconnected with the patient’s care). 10:55 – A physician may answer the telephone on the Sabbath (see para. 51 above) since the call might be related to a seriously ill patient. 26:8a – An attending physician, living a distance away from the hospital, may phone on the Sabbath to ask the physician on duty about a seriously ill patient (see ch. 1, para. 1). He may even phone to ask about possible problems with such patients if he is uncertain that the physician on duty will, on his own initiative, phone him for advice. The phone should be lifted and replaced in an unusual manner. Beeper: 26:11 Where there is no eiruv, a physician may not carry a medical bag, etc., except to visit a patient who is seriously ill (see ch. 1, para. 1). Similarly, a physician may not carry a beeper outside a private domain unless there is an eiruv. For more details, please see Nishmat Avraham, vol. 4, p. 22 (Hebrew). 1:1 – The seriously or dangerously ill (holeh she-yesh bo sakkana): that is, the patient suffering from a potentially fatal condition. a. A person who himself senses that he is seriously ill, or whom a physician or anyone with some knowledge of medicine considers to be so. b. One who, though not in immediate danger, may deteriorate into such a state unless given treatment in time; for example, an insulin-dependent diabetic patient who has run out of insulin. c. Patients with certain conditions held by the Talmud to be states of danger, even if contrary to current medical opinion; for example, a woman within seven days of childbirth. Once such potentially fatal condition has been diagnosed, one of two practical applications ensues: – If actual or possible danger to life is imminent, everything necessary to save the patient’s life must be done as speedily as possible, exactly as one would were it not the Sabbath. In such a situation, one who delays treatment in order to seek a halachic decision is considered to have “shed blood,” since the delay may result in a loss of life. – If, however, it is certain that there is no imminent danger to life in taking the time to consult competent halachic authority, this should be done in order to be properly guided as to when and how to set aside the Sabbath regulations. Danger to a limb but not to life: In almost all situations in which there is danger to a limb the patient is held to be seriously ill and must be treated as such. For details, see Nishmat Avraham.