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Just 70
years ago, in the summer of 1939, a group of members of
Hose Company Number 4 of the old Teaneck Volunteer Fire
Department decided that Teaneck needed an ambulance
corps which could serve its residents, then about 23,000
strong, 24 hours a day, every day of the year, and
without charge. Prior to this time, the township was
served by ambulances operated by local hospitals which
offered irregular response times and often little more
than transportation.
The
driving force was Cornelius Van Dyk, a member of the
Hose Company who was then the town's animal warden.
Since he lived and worked in Teaneck, he felt that
he, and others, would be available at any time of the
day and night to respond to an emergency.
Van Dyk
located an ambulance in a small town in Ohio which could
be purchased inexpensively, and he and Jimmy Thompson
journeyed to Ohio to bring the rig to Teaneck. The unit
was a 1936 LaSalle, which looked very much like a hearse
and carried minimal equipment.
Van Dyk
and Thomspon devoted their time to raise enough money
to buy it. They appeared with the ambulance all over
town to personally solicit contributions, many of which
were as small as a quarter. They formed a nonprofit
corporation and named it the Teaneck Volunteer Ambulance
Corps. Today the Corps has over 100 active, highly
trained members, hundreds of alumni, five modern
ambulances, crew quarters, kitchen facilities and
sleeping accommodations for six or more members. The
Corps now serves a community of 40,000, with three
highways, three nursing homes and a large university.
Throughout the last 70 years, the Corps has never
charged a patient or the patient's family for service.
The services of the Corps are entirely free of charge,
whether the patients are residents of Teaneck, visitors,
or individuals who need medical service while passing
through the town. The Corps also renders service in
nearby towns as part of a mutual aid system, again
without charge.
In fact,
the most important word in the name of the organization
is "volunteer", an identification the members zealously
protect. In recent years, the Corps has averaged over 3,500
runs a year and the total number of calls made in the
last sixty years is estimated at between 120,000 and
150,000...every one without a charge. |
