Rachel Freier points to the tiny replica of the ambulance used by Israel's national EMS agency. She's hoping to get a real ambulance for the all-female group of Jewish paramedics operating in the Orthodox neighborhood of Borough Park. They call themselves Ezras Nashim, Hebrew for assisting women.

"The need for us to have one is a critical need," said Rachel Freier, Director, Ezras Nashim.

Freier has been leading the volunteer emergency response team since 2012. They've handled more than 400 calls this year alone, from Orthodox women who do not feel comfortable for religious reasons to have male paramedics treating them.

"I hear the radio. I wake up, jump up. I'm always ready. I have everything already set up. So I'm ready to go and just run. And I like doing night shift because the streets are empty and I get there right away," said Sarah Weisshaus, EMT, Ezras Nashim.

The problem is that members of Ezras Nashim use their own cars to get there. If the patient needs an ambulance, the group must call another paramedic unit that has one. So, they've applied for their own ambulance license. At a meeting last week of the regional EMS council, they cast their request as a cultural and religious imperative.

"There is nothing more sacred to an Orthodox woman than her modesty. Please, I beg you; allow her to maintain her dignity. Allow her to maintain her modesty," said one person at the meeting.

The women say they formed their own response unit because the all-male Orthodox volunteer corps Hatzolah, which has been around for decades would not let them join.

But when the women applied for the ambulance license, the men opposed it, calling Ezras Nashim redundant.

They cited a letter by 49 Orthodox rabbis that said in matters of life and death, Jewish law permits male paramedics to treat women.

The women stress they're not a competitor but an option for female patients.

"There's really a level of sensitivity not just in modesty but in the communication and feeling of comfort and understanding," said Charna Goldsmith, an EMT-In-Training, Ezras Nashim.

While Ezras Nashim says they've received plenty of support from women in the community, they now need it from members of the EMS Council. It's launched an online petition on its website.

The EMS Council is set to vote on the ambulance license application on November 19th.