The Central Park Medical Unit is a hundred percent volunteer -based 501 (c)(3) non-profit, funded entirely by public donations, foundations and grants. Started on bicycles in the 1970s because of slow response times, the unit now provides one of the quickest response times in New York state – under three minutes - with 150 volunteers, three ambulances, bicycle teams and an all-terrain vehicle. Volunteers come from all walks of life and find the experience to be extremely rewarding and particularly useful as training for a career in trauma medicine. Often overlooked or misidentified, the unit is trying to gain recognition and sorely needed funds to improve its fleet from a ten-year old failing ambulance. Aside from responding free of charge to bicycle and runner collisions and falls from rock faces, all units were recently deployed for four days during Hurricane Sandy to the Rockaways and to evacuating NYU and Bellevue.
Click here for the original article.
Click here for more information about the Central Park Medical Unit, to volunteer or donate.