Contacts

Volunteer Ambulance Corps.
(Main Number)
201-768-6040

Line Officers

Pete Sotiropoulos
Captain

Dawn Firenze
1st Lieutenant

Deborah Butti
2nd Lieutenant

Administrative Officers

Larry Craven
President

Angela Borzone
Vice President

Joe Tully
Treasurer

Mary Beth Craven
Secretary

Volunteer Ambulance Corps.

A Proud History

On September 9, 1960, a meeting was held at the American Legion building in Northvale where the groundwork was laid for what would become the Northvale Volunteer Ambulance Corps (NVAC). Beginning with only a handful of members and a 1951 Cadillac, the NVAC made a commitment to serve their community and those nearby, faithfully and professionally. This continues today—the Corps responded to over 500 emergency calls in 2007 in Northvale, Rockleigh and surrounding communities in the Northern Valley—using two ambulances and still with small crews.

The success of the Northvale Volunteer Ambulance Corps is based on the hard work and dedication of its members, past and present. Yet, for this success to endure, new members are needed to help continue performing basic life skills to the people in our area when injury or illness occurs. If you would like to join, please contact us at 201-768-6040 or stop by the Ambulance Building located at 196 Firenze Street, any day between 7 PM and 8 PM.

New in 2008

The emphasis for this year will be recruiting new members to become EMT’s and to upgrade our equipment through special fund raising events.

We expect to recruit from the high school student population and will hold a program at the Northern Valley Regional High School in Old Tappan in late spring. At that time we will be asking students age 16 or older to consider joining the Corps and become EMT’s at no cost to them. Training is extensive and is held at the Police and Fire Academy in Mahwah or EMT Center in Paramus; this will provide students with an opportunity to fulfill their community service requirements in a meaningful way. A scholarship of $250 is provided through the Corps to a graduating senior who is a resident of Northvale or Rockleigh and has distinguished her/himself as an exemplary EMT.

The Corps has identified two pieces of medical equipment that would serve to upgrade our level of service to patients. In addition, communication devices to allow day members to interface with Dispatch and then to respond directly to medical calls at the patient’s location or the ambulance building are desirable. Combining resources with other nearby towns is becoming more commonplace and essential, as volunteers in the daytime are scarce. The equipment is:

A Power Stretcher for the Second Ambulance will cost approximately $10,000. Reduced crew size makes this an important addition. Our current Stryker Power stretcher on our primary ambulance has been in operation for two years and to date no back injuries among members have been reported. The second ambulance was utilized extensively in 2007 and thus the need for the new stretcher.

An Automatic Blood Pressure Cuff and Pulse Oximeter (cost $2,700) will provide continuous readings while allowing the EMT to focus on other aspects of Patient care while in route to a hospital. With reduced crew size (in most cases two during the daytime) this would be beneficial in our communications with hospital and paramedics.

The Future

Government-mandated training and equipment, NJ State-required medical call tracking via computers and file retention are pushing office and storage requirements at 196 Firenze St. to capacity. The Corps anticipates forming a planning group to consider the expansion of the current facility in order to accommodate the needs demanded by the new mandates.