In 1962 when Dobbs Ferry Community Hospital could no longer provide ambulance service to the surrounding communities, dedicated members of the community such as Gene Downey, Larry Cabot and Vic Grutzner got together and formed the Ardsley Secor Volunteer Ambulance Corps. Secor is part of the unincorporated Town of Greenburgh just outside of Ardsley, part of the school district in Hartsdale.
All of our members are volunteers. There are approximately 35
active riding members in the corps including our juniors and college students.
We also have life members and associates who have been members over the years
and although remain interested and active in the corps business, do not ride
on any ambulance calls. We respond to calls twenty-four hours a day seven days
a week. Last year we responded to 380 calls and treated approximately 500 patients.
We are dispatched by the local Ardsley police via pagers and fire horn. Upon
receiving a 911 call, the Ardsley police despatch a patrol car and sound our
pagers and the fire horn. All available members respond to the building to insure
that the ambulance responds. Each time the ambulance leaves the building on
a call it carries a driver and at least one EMT (emergency medical technician)
certified by NYS. We usually respond with a crew of four or more members. From
midnight until 6 am we have assigned crews respond to calls. A specific crew
will be on call for three consecutive nights in every eighteen days. When the
pager goes off on the crews’ assigned night only those four volunteers
respond.
We are also dispatched by 60 control, the county fire district dispatch. ASVAC is part of the quad village/county mutual aid plan. If Dobbs Ferry, Hastings or any other community has already been dispatched, out of service or unable to respond, 60 control will request we be dispatched on a mutual aid call.
We are part of the Greenburgh ALS program where the Town of Greenburgh provides paramedics in what are called fly cars to respond to all calls for which they are available. Our ambulance is a BLS or basic life support vehicle. By have a paramedic meet us at the scene our ambulance is upgraded to an ALS or advance life support vehicle. The paramedic can obviously provide advanced medical care to our patients.
We then transport our patients to the closest appropriate hospital such as Dobbs Ferry Community Hospital, White Plains Hospital, Westchester Medical Center, Phelps Hospital, St. Johns Hospital, St. Joseph’s Hospital, and Lawrence Hospital.
Our corps is very diverse. Our members range in age from 16 to 60+. They come from all walks of life and backgrounds. We have engineers, truck drivers, teachers, nurses, doctors, lawyers, housewives, real estate brokers, construction workers, enterpenuers, repairmen, insurance agents, policemen, students, and so on.
We have a junior membership of high school students from Ardsley High School. They are permitted to leave school during the day if the have a driver’s license and their grades are maintained. We encourage involvement of our high school students. They are enthusiastic, dedicated and great when it comes to lifting patients.
Our crews have saved heart attack victims
giving them many additional years of life, We’ve delivered babies on the
Thruway, pulled victims out of automobile accidents, reassured Mothers with
new babies with temperatures and sometimes we are soothing supportive voices
and strong hands to people and families in crisis. It is a very good feeling
to know you have made a positive difference in someone’s life. And our
neighbors are comforted to know that when they call 911 well trained caring
friends and neighbors are going to respond to their call for help.
We have been providing community service to Ardsley and its neighbors for the last 42 years. We have acquired five (5) different ambulances over those 42 years the newest one in July 0f 2002. We plan to purchase a new rig every 10 years and set aside $15,000 dollars every year to that end.
Each member is trained in CPR and driver training before they may ride any call. Each year in February the entire corps is recertified in CPR. We are chartered under the NYS department of health and follow all of their guidelines and protocols. Our EMTs and we have approximately 17 (half of our riding members) are certified by NYS and recertified every three years. We do monthly required training for the entire corps, subjects related to types of injuries and situations we are likely to see. Each year we do at least one joint training with the Ardsley Fire Department on extrication. The fire department receives donated vehicles and we train on caring for and removing patients from a damaged vehicle. We do regular training on certain drug interventions. Last June we were part of a Mass Casualty/ Hazardous material drill on Ashford Avenue.
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