The Ambulance Corps fleet of emergency vehicles

For over 50 years the Sea Isle Ambulance Corps has provided emergency medical services year ’round to our community. What is most impressive is the fact that it is an all-volunteer operation.

Sea Isle Ambulance has grown from modest beginnings. From 12 members and one ambulance in 1956, it now boasts 30 active members and 12 associate members with three ambulances and one first responder vehicle. Most members are certified by the State of New Jersey as emergency medical technicians, trained to provide basic life support in a pre-hospital setting, including operating a semi-automatic external defibrillator. Many members are certified CPR and first aid instructors, routinely teaching life-saving skills to lifeguards, firemen, and police officers.

I met with Chief Dan Fay and Assistant Chief Phyliss Linn, who pointed out that the operation is funded totally by donations. It is now the county’s only fully volunteer ambulance corps.

Each year, the men and women volunteers of the squad respond to over 750 calls for assistance, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Volunteers, on top of jobs, family, and other personal obligations, find time to respond to medical emergencies within the city and other municipalities. Members include public works employees, fire inspectors, teachers, lawyers, police officers, dispatchers, secretaries, carpenters, nurses, doctors, politicians and retired people.

The majority of calls are for medical emergencies particularly for the elderly but there are also many pediatric calls. The squad makeup can be interesting sometimes. Dan told me of one man who was groggy after a serious leg injury. When he woke up in the ambulance he saw that he was being serviced by a priest and a mortician.

For special events, like the recent Polar Bear Plunge and the Island Run, the Corps is fully deployed on location. They also provided mutual aid to New York on 9/11.

Chief Fay’s message to the community is “Help us to help you.” He asks you to look inside of yourself as to how you can help.

Those interested in volunteering their time need not worry about skills. The state picks up the tab to educate and train volunteers. The only requirement is being able-bodied and willing to help.

In March, the Corps will be conducting their primary fund raising campaign through the mail. It is the generosity of the community that has maintained a high level of emergency medical service here in town for so many years. Call the Ambulance Corps at 263-8686 for information.