Residents die as ambulances arrive late

1983

Emergency

For years The Press received complaints about inadequate ambulance service. Some residents even got together to fill the void with KVAC — the Kingsbridge- Riverdale Volunteer Ambulance Corps. But frustrations boiled over in June when friends of a 40-year-old Skyview man who suffered a heart attack put in a distress call to 911. KVAC’s new ambulance had been stolen and though the group’s tottering old ambulance was nearby on Netherland Avenue, it was dealing with another patient.

Police records showed that the city ambulance took more than 20 minutes to arrive, although EMS insisted that it had received the call only 10 minutes before. The man died before reaching the hospital.

Just two weeks later, a car accident tested the system again, and it was found wanting. This time the operator told her caller that no EMS ambulance was available and KVAC’s ambulance was in the shop. Two KVAC volunteers grabbed their medical bags and raced to the scene. It was more than half an hour before EMS arrived.

Spurred by the two events, organizers of a successful campaign to save “Sister Tree,” an ancient sycamore on Corlear Avenue, turned their attention to KVAC and launched a campaign to replace the stolen ambulance.

It took many months, but with large and small contributions the community raised the funds for a brand new, fully equipped vehicle.