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History of the Ramsey Ambulance Corps

Beginning Years

To understand the beginning years of the Ramsey Ambulance Corps, one must look at the history of a few other organizations in the area, with special attention to the Ramsey Fire Department, the Ramsey Women's Club, and the Allendale Ambulance Corps. All of these Organizations played a key role in the development of the Ramsey Ambulance Corps, and without them, the Corps may have never evolved into the organization it is today.

For many years, the Ramsey Fire Department operated a First Aid Squad that would respond to medical emergencies in the Borough. During the 1930s, the American Legion attempted to raise funds for an ambulance for this squad; however, after several years, there still were not enough funds for even one ambulance. The Legion decided that it would be in its best interest to donate the money it raised to the Allendale Ambulance Corps, which had already been in operation. There was an understanding that the Allendale Corps would then respond to medical emergencies in the Borough. Dr. Harry M. Archer, an Allendale physician and a surgeon for the New York City Fire Department was instrumental in forming the Allendale Ambulance Corps.

During this time, Harold R. Greene was an investment banker, who residing in Ramsey. He would commute to New York City daily.Dr. Archer had taught Mr. Greene first aid skills, and he in turn had trained the Ramsey Fire Department Rescue Squad in first aid. Consequently, Mr. Greene was known as "Mr. First Aid" in the Fire Department.

After several years of operating a First Aid Squad out of the Fire Department, a need was seen for a separate ambulance corps. Eighteen Ramsey firefighters banded together and incorporated the organization, deciding that fifteen of them would ride on five, three-man night crews and the remaining three would work with civic groups, like the Ramsey Women's Club, to secure funding to purchase an ambulance and erect a building. Although Mr. Greene had trained the members of the Corps, he never became a member. When he had passed, the Corps was named in his honor.

On April 9, 1953 Mrs. Dorothy Werger, President of the evening Women's Club, presented Captain George Schurter with the keys to a Eureka Cadillac ambulance. The ambulance had been a "demo model", and was placed into service that day. The following Monday and Wednesday, the Ramsey Ambulance Corps responded to their very first calls in the Borough. The rig was painted tan and green, and sported a red flashing light as well as an electric powered siren. Although it had simple equipment, including a cookie salesman's tiered case as trauma kit and an extremely heavy double oxygen bottle Resuscitator, it did carry more advanced equipment such as a two-way radio that enabled the ambulance to maintain communications with the Ramsey Police Department. The ambulance was housed in the Island Avenue Fire House until a suitable garage could be constructed.

Now that the Corps had a new ambulance, there still was a need for a building and a garage. The Charter Members leased a building lot, which was located on the corner of Island Avenue and Prospect Street, from the Borough for $1.00 per year. Many of the Charter Members were builders, roofers, plumbers, electricians, and handymen. They built the original building mostly by themselves, with much help from some outside contractors, and a mortgage supplied by William F. O'Mahoney for $10,000. The Charter Members signed a note to First National Bank & Trust Company of Ramsey, which later became Citizen's Bank, for funds for materials. Ramsey resident, John Marinaro, an architect, donated his time and talent and designed the building. The Napolitano Brothers, who were local contractors, provided the masonry work. The result was a one-story cinderblock structure with two bays and an office, kitchen, and a lavatory along one side. On September 6, 1954, our Ambulance Building was dedicated. In August of 1956, the first mortgage was cancelled!

Responding to Calls

At the start, the day crews were composed primarily of Police Officers and Department of Public Works personnel. Police Chief Norman Stegen, who still lives in Ramsey, and Police Chief Fred Smith, now deceased, were very active in the early days of the Corps. Unfortunately, due to scheduling conditions that prevailed at the time, both men could not continue with their membership on the Corps, and were therefore named as Honorary Members.

Charter Members, Lou Cipriani, George Covert, Ken Meyerhoff Sr., Ken Meyerhoff Jr., and Charles Meyerhoff all worked for the DPW. At that time the DPW trucks did not have radios, so when there was a medical emergency, a police car would be dispatched to the particular area of town where the DPW was working in order to secure a member and bring him to the building to respond to the call.

Later, for day and weekend notifications, a ten-horsepower siren was installed on a telephone pole behind the ambulance building in the area where the bays are now. To differentiate the sound of the Ambulance Siren from the Civil Defense and Fire Sirens, the Ambulance Siren had a unique sound that caused it to be nicknamed "The Sick Cow". The siren was later replaced with in-home pagers. However, it continues to serve the Borough today as a Fire Department Siren, located on Williams Drive.

For night crews, dispatch was a little different. At the time, Police Headquarters was located next door to the Ambulance building, in the corner of the Ramsey Fire Department Headquarters building, now the Ramsey Rescue Squad Community Center and Ramsey Rescue Squad Headquarters. There was a display board next to the front desk that held hooks with elongated placards with the names and telephone numbers of the duty crew members so that when a medical emergency arose, the officer on duty would telephone the duty crewmembers at their homes and advise the need for an ambulance. Some early members recall placing their phones on a long cord out to their gardens while on a weekend duty so that they would not miss the phone call. Sometimes, when the call came in during the middle of the night, and Captain Fred Smith (Smitty) was dispatching, he would advise of inclement weather and dangerous road conditions.

During the mid 1970s, the Women's Club once again donated funds to the Corps, which the Corps used to purchase Plectron® portable radio alert units with that donation. Although the units were a bit cumbersome, they could be left at home, or carried by a Corps member to allow the freedom of leaving the home. Members on duty were finally able to go shopping, run errands, or visit with friends. The Plectron® units were replaced in the 1980s by Motorola® Minitor I units which were small enough to be clipped to a belt. These pagers afforded members even more freedom, but we had to be careful that the battery door on the bottom of the pager did not open up and spill the batteries on the floor. Today, the pagers are compact enough to be worn in your shirt pocket. Our Line Officers and certain high-call-volume members are issued portable radios that not only act as pagers, but also enable the person to use multiple radio channels to speak with the Police Desk, the Fire Department, the Rescue Squad, other Ambulance Corps members, and even other agencies.

Women Become Part of the Corps

Like many other Corps in the area, the Ramsey Ambulance Corps was organized and originally staffed by men. During the 1960s, when the Borough rescinded permission for the DPW workers to respond to ambulance calls during work hours, maintaining a membership of 30 to 40 individuals became increasingly difficult. Filling five-day crews and five night crews was nearly impossible. Therefore, during the early 1970s, the Corps took the revolutionary step of inviting women to join. This was a traumatic event for some of our male members, and some long-time members strongly objected. At one point, a male member was expelled from the Corps because he refused to ride with a female crew.

Initially, the women only served as day crewmembers. Each day crew had at least one female member, and the Monday day crew was exclusively female. The night crews remained the exclusive territory of the men. It was not until 1974, when Walt Farnham was Captain that women were to be assigned to a night crew.

It was evident that during this time, without the housewives of Ramsey, who completed the day crews, the Corps may not have survived. Most notably during this time were Patty Alexander, Kathy Shurko (who had an award named in her honor), Jane Dougherty (who became a Life Member), Pat Beggs (neé), Jane Cox, and Donna Bischoff, all of whom became Honorary Members.

Training Required

In the beginning days, the only training available (and required) was the American Red Cross Advanced First Aid Course. As previously stated, Harold R. Greene trained all of the Charter Members in the Standard First Aid Course; however, once the Corps was founded, Leslie D. Wilding took over as training officer. Les not only trained all of the early members of the Ramsey Ambulance Corps in the Advanced First Aid Course, but also trained many members of local ambulance corps and fire departments, including Mahwah and Waldwick. At the time when women joined the Corps, Ralph Anderson trained most of our members.

Drills were held almost notable monthly at the building to cover practical skills of ambulance operation, and knowledge needed to meet conditions in the variety of situations encountered when responding to emergencies. Drills are still held monthly and can sometimes offer CEUs towards an EMT's recertification.

As time went on, additional training requirements were added, and CPR training was first started in the 1960s. There was no money for a mannequin, so an art teacher at Ramsey High School made a mask of Les' face, and Les made a wooden cradle for the body. A soccer ball was placed in the proper place in the cradle so compressions could be done. The first actual Resusi Anne was inflatable and a foot pump had to be used for inflation prior to class. The Women's Club donated the first Recorder Anne in 1975. Due to the cold temperatures in the ambulance building, Recorder Anne lived on the second floor of Les' house. When a young Rescue Lieutenant name Steve Ahlstedt wanted to become a CPR instructor, he spent several afternoons polishing his skills with Anne and Les.

In the 1960s, the New Jersey State First Aid Council was given the job to coordinate First Aid Squad training throughout the state. They established the "Five Point" program, which included First Aid, Emergency Childbirth, CPR, Light Extrication, and Defensive Driving. This training was considered mandatory for all ambulance corps members who rendered aid to patients. Not too long after, training requirements were expanded further, and the NJSFAC established three additional "points" to match the national standard: Emergency Respiratory Care, Vital Signs, and Triage.

In the early 1970s, nationwide standards for Emergency Medical Technicians were established, and training courses were given at central locations such as Bergen Community College. As part of the Interstate Highway Program, the federal government mandated that if ambulance corps members did not become EMTs, then federal highway funding would be lost. Seeing a need for a central facility that would provide the required higher levels of training to the ambulance and rescue community of Bergen County, Robert Chais and George Szodoray, members of the Upper Saddle River Ambulance Corps, founded the first training facility in Paramus. In 1976, the Emergency Medical Services Training Center was founded and classes were taught in the Bergen County Technical High Schools. The EMS Training Center building was dedicated on October 27, 1991.

At almost the same time, the Bergen County Police and Fire Academy in Mahwah (now known as the Law and Public Safety Institute) expanded to include EMS and First Aid. In 1981/1982, Carol White, also a member of the Upper Saddle River Ambulance Corps, was the first coordinator of the EMT Academy.

In the 1990s, Semi-Automatic External Defibrillators (SAEDs), or Defibs, became available. Specially trained EMTs were permitted to operate them under specified conditions in order to shock a heart out of Ventricular Fibrillation (V-fib), an abnormal rhythm of the heart, back into a normal rhythm, thereby saving lives. Although the first units were carried in the ambulance, they were rarely used. In 1993, when the Borough hired Police Chief Joseph Delaney, as well as a significant number of EMT-trained Police Officers, a unique partnership/venture was formed with EMS. Recognizing that Police Officers are typically the first to arrive at a medical emergency, and since minutes often mean the difference between life and death for a patient in V-fib, Life Member Mark Madsen spearheaded a program to have the patrol cars carry the Ambulance Corps' Defibs. Through his efforts, Ramsey was the first town in Northern New Jersey to embark on such a program, and the very first year this program went into effect, lives were saved in the Borough. This Defib training has now been incorporated into the EMT curriculum. Today all members who render aid to patients are certified in Defibrillation. In addition, all police trainees at the Bergen County Law and Public Safety Institute in Mahwah now receive EMT training.

Equipment

In the 1950s, equipment was minimal, and included a drop-leg stretcher, stair chair, Reeves, aspirator, respirator, splints, cravats, sand bags for head immobilization, and assorted bandages. Since there were no patient straps on the stretcher, cravats were used to secure the patient to the stretcher.

Then came Resuscitators (two oxygen tanks for forced and/or demand ventilator assistance), suction units, and bag-valve-masks to assist in breathing. Short backboards were replaced by Kendrick Extrication Devices (KEDs) back in the early 1970s, which also replaced Life Member Mike Belyuh's Belyuh-Board.

The 1970s saw an explosion of equipment coming to the Corps. Today the rigs are stocked with equipment for almost any type of emergency: burn bags containing varied supplies for victims burns from fires or chemicals, delivery bags containing supplies for our maternity patients who deliver on scene or in the ambulance, defibs, humidified oxygen, and all kinds of first aid supplies that will stop the bleeding, or splint the broken bone. There even is a child seat available so that small patients can safely be secured to the stretcher. Stuffed animals are also carried in both ambulances to alleviate the anxiety, if not the pain, of our youngest patients. Recently the Corps addressed the need of our patients who have allergies to latex products, by removing all latex gloves and replacing them with nitrile gloves instead. The Corps also recently purchased two new Stryker stair chairs. These stair chairs have been a welcomed addition to the Corps, since they have built in tracks that assist the crew in taking patients down stairs, thus saving many members from developing back problems, which unfortunately is a common problem.