Letter to the Editor: 30 Years of Ocean Beach Volunteer Fire Department EMS

In the fall of 1994, a small group of Emergency Medical Technicians who were also Firefighters in the Ocean Beach Volunteer Fire Department, with the support of the entire membership, submitted a proposal to the Village of Ocean Beach urging that the fire department take on responsibility for Emergency Medical Services. Later that year, the village board agreed to let the fire department handle ambulance service within the village and its fire protection districts.

Over the winter, a new ambulance was constructed, equipped with necessary supplies, and prepared for service. Protocols and operational procedures were developed and distributed. The Suffolk County Department of Emergency Medical Services offered training sessions at Ocean Beach. As spring approached, the department had 12 Certified First Responders and 18 Emergency Medical Technicians ready to serve.

On April 1, 1995, the Ocean Beach Volunteer Fire Department began providing ambulance service to the communities of Ocean Beach, Seaview, Corneille Estates, The Fire Island Summer Club, Robbins Rest, Atlantique, and the Islip Town Marina at Atlantique. It was a busy summer with a steep learning curve, but the department’s members persevered and significantly enhanced the emergency care provided to residents.

Within a year, the department acquired a second ambulance and began offering Advanced Life Support (ALS). Over the next few years, the department achieved Paramedic Level Certification, received authorization to administer controlled substances, and was qualified to perform 12-lead EKGs on scene and en route to the hospital. A doctor from the community joined the department, becoming certified as a Suffolk County Field Physician with authorization to ride along and provide field instructions to our ambulance crews. In 2005, the village and its fire department sought and obtained permission to expand our operating territory for ambulance service to include Ocean Bay Park and Point O’ Woods.

In 2006, when the Suffolk County Regional Emergency Medical Services Council implemented a response protocol for the county, the Ocean Beach Volunteer Fire Department became the first agency to be exempted, as we were already surpassing the standards they aimed to set. And all of this was accomplished entirely by the volunteer members of the Ocean Beach Volunteer Fire Department.

This past April marked the 30th Anniversary of the Ocean Beach Volunteer Fire Department’s Emergency Medical Services Program, and I am writing because I believe that the department, especially those members who fought to establish and continuously improve the ambulance service, should be recognized for the lifesaving services it provides.

Franklin R. Silsdorf