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In 2010, LVAC did 410 runs.
Each time the ambulance goes out it is staffed by a crew
chief who is a New York State Certified Emergency Medical Technician,
and a driver, who may or may not also be an EMT. Most calls
have a third crew member, who we call the first aider, who also
may or may not be an EMT. The crew chief is in charge of
all patient care decisions, including which hospital the patient
is transported to.
The Town of Lewisboro is one
of several towns in northern Westchester County which is served
by a paramedic service, Westchester EMS. There are three
paramedic fly cars in service at all times and one is paged out
along with LVAC on all calls. If the patient's condition
warrants ALS, then the paramedic will ride along with the LVAC
crew and provide advanced life support.
LVAC currently has 2 ambulances,
67B1 and 67B2, the B standing for basic life support. We
also have a first response vehicles, a fully-equipped Chevrolet
Tahoe, which was purchased in 2008 in memory of a long time Lewisboro
resident who named us in his will. We have approximately
40 riding members, although this is a fluid number. Several
are junior members under the age of 18, and a few are college
students who ride during summer and vacation breaks. 20
of our members are EMTs, 21 are cpr/First Aiders, and 12 are
crew chiefs. All members are trained to use AEDs (Automatic
Electronic Defibrillators), and LVAC has 10 Lifepak AEDs. In
addition to those in the ambulances and the first response vehicle,
6 crew chiefs carry them in their personal vehicles. LVAC
also participates in the Epipen program to administer epinephrine
and is certified to use albuterol for the treatment of asthma.
LVAC also does standbys at
local events. We stand by for the varsity football games
at our high school, at the annual fireworks display in July,
at the annual Leatherman's Run in April, and at other fairs and
events as requested.
LVAC is not funded by any
town, state or government agency. We receive no tax money
and we do not charge anyone for our services. All our funds
are raised by the members themselves, both riding and non riding.
We have an annual auction and a bake sale and we send out
letters of appeal twice a year. We also receive some money
from local grants and memorial donations. We operate on
a budget of approximately $120,000 a year and this includes monies
set aside to purchase one new ambulance every five years. We
respond 24 hours a day every day of the year. Most of our patients
are transported to Northern Westchester Hospital in Mt. Kisco,
but we also occasionally go to Putnam Hospital in Carmel, Westchester
Medical Center in Valhalla, and Danbury or Norwalk Hospitals
in Connecticut. We also have access to the stat flight
helicopters from the Westchester Medical Center to quickly transport
a seriously injured person.
LVAC Coverage:
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