By Michael Morton
The corps' old building on Union Turnpike, a converted house, burned down in April 1999 after an electrical fire. Reconstruction of the site was delayed because the group needed a variance from the city Buildings Department, but now the corps' new home is almost ready for the start of full operations.
“We got to put those tough times behind us and look forward to the good times,” said Ed Weinberg, who has been a member since the group was founded in 1973.
Although its records were spared by the fire, the corps lost its medical supplies, special duty jackets and training equipment, and the group was forced to move to the basement of a house in Glen Oaks Village.
But while the blaze dislocated the volunteers, it also provided them with a chance to build a custom two-story brick headquarters, one more suited to the service and with actual ambulance bays. Such a project had been much discussed.
“It made it more of a reality,” said Brenda Morrissey, who has been a volunteer for 11 years. Last week dispatch operations moved to the new $750,000 headquarters, but the corps is still waiting for the final paperwork from the Buildings Department before fully moving in, possibly by early June.
The corps held its open house Sunday to show the community the new facility and it plans to invite local leaders to an official ribbon-cutting ceremony in July. State Sen. Frank Padavan (R-Bellerose), for one, gave the corps $150,000 for its construction effort.
But the corps, which has two ambulances and 80 volunteers, said it still expects funding to be a problem. For years the group has relied on occasionally receiving a government grant, billing the insurance carriers of patients it picks up and taking in neighborhood donations.
But with changing demographics in the neighborhood, volunteers said the corps has received fewer contributions. “People have become complacent with 911 and kind of forgotten about us,” Morrissey said.
Under the current system, 911 calls are handled by hospital-based ambulances or by Fire Department units. If there is too much demand, then the calls are sent to volunteer groups. Otherwise, the volunteer services must wait for local residents to contact them directly.
But Morrissey said “we know our areas a lot better than anybody else,” a crucial distinction when saving time can mean saving lives.
The ambulance services in the surrounding communities all cooperate with one another, and corps members said they would like to become the central dispatch for the region, perhaps reached by one phone number in the future.
For now, the corps will continue to monitor police channels for local emergencies and provide free stand-by service at community events.
Morrissey said the corps goes to the events, “just to remind them we're here and to get them care as fast as we can.”
Reach reporter Michael Morton by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or by calling 718-229-0300, Ext. 154.
