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whats the best volunteer ambulance in nyc?


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You're thinking of the Hatzoloh Chevra VAC, the biggest VAC in the world.
Not saying you are wrong here, but I am curious to know how the numbers compare to St. John ambulance? They too, are mostly all vollies and provide basic EMS services in countries such as the UK, Canada, NZ, Australia, South Africa, Malaysia, India, etc etc. Basically anywhere you can throw a Christian bible at someone, and get them to catch it, not dodge it.
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Not saying you are wrong here, but I am curious to know how the numbers compare to St. John ambulance? They too, are mostly all vollies and provide basic EMS services in countries such as the UK, Canada, NZ, Australia, South Africa, Malaysia, India, etc etc. Basically anywhere you can throw a Christian bible at someone, and get them to catch it, not dodge it.

In New Zed St John is the major provider of emergency ambulance and non-emergency patient transfer services as well as commercial medical coverage at events.

The emergency ambulance service is by no means "basic" and although it does rely heavily upon Volunteer Ambulance Officers, along with Australia, New Zed has the highest standards of education for Paramedics in the western world. the broadest and most autonomous scopes of practice for any jurisdiction still reliant upon volunteers and one of, it not the, best RSI programs in the world.

I know in other places you mentioned St John is voluntary first aid only and/or provides limited backup to the emergency ambulance service but New Zed is certainly not one of them.

I also know you were just rattling lists of places where St John exists and did not mean to lump New Zed into such categorisation and that this post is very self serviant and shamelessly self promoting in nature but bloody hell why not?

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NYC CEMS is a volunteer ambulance agency servicing the entire borough of Brooklyn and South of 59 street in Manhattan.

http://www.health.ny.gov/professionals/ems/pdf/agency_list.pdf

Please scroll to page 56 on PDF.

I'm unsure and uncertain about this, but if I'm correct, this is actually a private IFT service, trying to buy up NY State Bureau of EMS issued "Certificates Of Need", which is documentation needed to open, and keep open, any ambulance organization in the state. When Saint Vincent's Hospital in Manhattan went out of business, NYCCEMS purchased St. Vinnie's CON. I don't recall specifics, but it was one item discussed at the last district meeting of the NY State Volunteer Ambulance and Rescue Association that I was able to attend, prior to Super Storm Sandy.

I'll get back to youze guyz after I speak to some associates in District 4, NYSVARA, with more information.

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  • 5 weeks later...

2 I can name off the top of my head

Hatzolah EMS

BRAVO Vol Ambulance

Hatzalah I think runs 2 tier with a fly car with MFR, EMT, or medic and 1-2 others grab an ambo from station. I never really understood need for vollie EMS in NYC. FDNY and other private and hospital based EMS seems to get it covered.

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I'm not a member of Hatzoloh VAC. I do note, however, they are reputed to be the largest VAC in the world, with INTERNATIONAL headquarters in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. They have 2 stations with 4 ambulances just in the Rockaways (gotta check if the ambulance garaged on Beach 129th Street was damaged or destroyed by Sandy, or any of the other 3 on Beach 9th Street).

At least one of the Brooklyn based Hatzoloh groups is a member-squad of District 4, New York State Volunteer Ambulance and Rescue Association.

In 1972, due to a perceived lack of service by the NYC Health and Hospitals Corporation EMS (pre-merger with FDNY in 1996), a group of businessmen and women got together, started the aforementioned CON process as I've already described in this string, and formed the Peninsula Volunteer Ambulance Corps of the Rockaways. I joined in time to become one of their first class of EMTs. NYC HHC EMS' response to our going into service was to cut 2 of the 4 BLS with no ALS ambulances then serving the Rockaways, claiming they weren't needed due to the existence of PVAC. We lasted until 1996, and went under due to lack of members and money, of which you need one to get the other.

FYI, BRAVO (Bay Ridge Ambulance Volunteer Organization, I think) began operations in 1973-74, the same year as my PVAC.

In the combined area of Districts 4 and 18, NYSVARA, the metropolitan NYC area, I think we still have 30 Volunteer Ambulance Squads. 5 of the 6 VFDs operating in Brooklyn and Queens run EMS (Gerritsen Beach VFD/EMS in Brooklyn, Broad Channel VFD/EMS,Rockaway Point VFD/EMS, Roxbury VFD/EMS, West Hamilton Beach VFD/EMS), and are members of District 4. I think I heard of another 2 VFDs, possibly also running EMS, one in Staten Island, the other in the Bronx. Another FYI, Point Breeze, also known as Breezy Point, has a VFD, but, while having EMTs in their membership, don't run EMS. Final FYI, all the Brooklyn and Queens VFDs are on the Jamaica Bay, and suffered structural and vehicular damage to their operations in the Super Storm Sandy's ocean surge.

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