Abe Muller is the kind of guy that makes up the backbone of a town.

He owns a small business, is part of the volunteer ambulance corps and is a member of a civic council that meets regularly.

All in all, a very typical, small-town American guy.

"This is what people don't understand about us," said Muller, one the approximately 70,000 Haredi or ultra-Orthodox Jews living in Lakewood. "We're very American in that way. We volunteer. We love our community and we're very involved in our community, like everyone else."

The news out of Lakewood in the past several months has portrayed certain members of the town's Orthodox community has takers, not givers.

A public airing of the high cost of private school busing and private special education for Orthodox Jewish children was followed by the arrest of 26 people charged with welfare fraud. The stories fueled perceptions that the entire Orthodox community is self-serving and insulated.

But, as anyone following this series of columns on Lakewood has read before, perception and reality are like fifth cousins. Related, but barely.

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One of the misconceptions in Lakewood is about the Orthodox-run first aid squad called "Hatzolah."

"People think we're only for ourselves," said Muller, one of three captains who run the 90-person squad. "But we go out for everybody. If you call us, we come."

"Hatzolah" is emblazoned on its 12 state-of-the art emergency vehicles, all paid by donations from the community.

Also spelled Hatzalah, the name means rescue or relief in Hebrew and there are Orthodox ambulance services in Haredi communities across New Jersey.

The Jersey Shore Hatzolah serves the Deal and Long Branch area. There are Hatzolah ambulance corps in Elizabeth and Union City, one that serves Passaic and Clifton, and one for Highland Park and Edison.

But Lakewood was the first and is the largest. The Hatzolah began in 1981 with a handful of volunteers and has grown along with the township's population which, at about 100,000, has tripled in size. Today, Hatzolah's force includes 70 trained EMTS, 19 paramedics and a full-time manager.

The manager, Motty Twerski said Hatzolah responded to 8,000 calls last year and made hospital transports as far away as Boston.

"We do all the extrications in town," Twerski said as he opened up the cargo doors to a vehicle that held two sets of the hydraulic tools used to pull people out of crumpled cars. "Last year we used our (extrication) airbag to get a child out from underneath a minivan."

Lakewood Police Chief Gregory Meyer called Hatzolah a "first-class operation."

"They are highly trained and well-funded, with state-of-the-art equipment," he said. "Their training is the same as everyone's. Our guys train with them all the time."

Lakewood has its own publically funded Emergency Medical Services unit of three ambulances. It is staffed 24 hours a day with paid and volunteer first responders.

"Many of our (Lakewood EMS) volunteers are from Hatzolah," Meyer said.

But without Hatzolah, Meyer said, the Lakewood EMS would be "overwhelmed" and forced to expand at taxpayer expense.

"There are things we do that create savings for the town that are sometimes overlooked," Muller said.

The service is free to all residents, not just the Orthodox, he added, though Hatzolah, like most volunteer first aid squads, has begun to bill insurance companies.

"If they pay, fine. If they don't, it's free," he said.

Stephen Fugman, a Lakewood Department of Public Works assistant superintendent is a volunteer at the township EMS but also volunteers with Hatzolah.

"People from the outside don't understand them, or don't want to take time to understand them," he said. "I've worked with them for years. They're good people."

On Friday nights and Saturdays, the Orthodox Sabbath, Fugman is part of a crew that drives the Hatzolah ambulances and crew members home from a call.

"Once the emergency is over, our rules apply," Muller said. "We can't drive home from the hospital."

Friday afternoons are the busiest for Hatzolah, Muller said, as people hurry to get ready for the Sabbath, and when the sun goes down many more people are on foot. Cars, twilight and pedestrians are a recipe for a spike in calls and the rapid growth and development in Lakewood is a concern for Hatzolah volunteers, Muller said.

"We have to worry about getting through town just like everybody else," he said. "Now we get calls for streets that aren't even on GPS yet. So this is a problem for us."

It now has three permanent first aid stations and other ambulances parked and ready to go at other locations throughout the traffic-clogged town.

The 89 trained first-responders also carry an elaborate first aid pack in their private cars, with oxygen, defibrillators and supplies to help trauma victims.

"We can get trained people anywhere in town pretty quick," said Muller.

This was illustrated on Monday when a little girl fainted during a pin-prick blood test at Lakewood's WIC (Women Infant and Children) clinic, a public assistance health center.

Hatzolah's main station at Heathwood and 14th Street is less than a half-mile from the WIC clinic and Muller arrived less than two minutes after getting the call. Two other Hatzolah members were already there, calming the child and her mother.

Hatzolah is now servicing the Orthodox communities in surrounding towns and Muller has done sensitivity training with other ambulance crews and police.

"There are thousands of laws in Orthodox Judaism," he said. "Of course, they all go out the window when there is an emergency.

"But we always keep in mind the level of comfort for people in our community," he said. "For instance, we don't wear uniforms. We don't come in with badges. We wear our normal clothes."

Since women must keep their heads covered and have other rules of modesty, Muller said, Orthodox emergency workers have a better understanding of how to delicately proceed in a medical emergency.

"Yes, we must remove a wig when a woman has head trauma, but we need to be sensitive," he said.

Mark Di Ionno may be reached at mdiionno@starledger.com. Follow The Star-Ledger on Twitter @StarLedger and find us on Facebook.