First Responders Keep Their Cool On Busy Day
/By Carrie Parker
info@longislandergroup.com
The Huntington Community First Aid Squad ambulance fleet is pictured at its headquarters in Huntington Station.
The Huntington Community First Aid Squad racked up 21 emergency calls on Friday, responding to requests for medical assistance that flew in at times just one minute apart, an official for the squad said.
The day began steadily with eight calls after 7 a.m., but the pace escalated in the afternoon, with calls coming in rapid succession.
At 2:47 p.m., a call came in for a patient with chest pain on West 19th street, Huntington Station. Two minutes later, it was a fire on Pidgeon Hill Road, Huntington Station. One minute after that, a sick call from the Huntington Medical Group on E. Pulaski Road, Huntington Station. Two minutes after that, a call from Dumbarton Drive, Huntington. Another call came in at 3:16 p.m., followed by eight more calls before the day was done.
But the pace didn’t faze HCFAS Chief Casey Orr, 26, of Huntington Station, who has been a member for a bit over six years. Orr responded to the fire call on Friday, where one individual with minor or smoke inhalations was transported to Huntington Hospital.
“I wouldn’t say it’s unusual for how our call volume has been lately,” Orr said. “It’s hit or miss. One day we might have eight, tomorrow we might have 30.”
While Friday might not have been a record-breaking day, Orr said that the squad had its highest call volume ever last year at 6,151. Orr added that right now, the squad seems on track to go above that.
“Even I wonder sometimes how we do it,” Orr said of the squad.
Since 1967, the HCFAS has responded to thousands of medical emergency calls each year. The squad provides advanced life support ambulances and emergency medical services to a large swath of Huntington spanning from Lloyd Harbor and Lloyd Neck in the north to Melville in the south and from the Nassau/Suffolk border and Cold Spring Harbor in the west to Greenlawn and Dix Hills in the east.
The HCFAS membership totals approximately 300, including dispatchers, drivers, crew leaders and EMTs.
Orr leaves it to the captains to staff their day and has found that they “go above and beyond” to secure back-up.
“Each day is different everyday and is staffed differently,” Orr said. “People have their radios on or receive texts when paging out for additional help so we make sure we can cover our calls.”
The job has its rewards in creating a bond between members.
“Everyone goes above and beyond not only for the community but for each other,” Orr said. “That’s the nature of the business. We do that for the community so why wouldn’t we do that with each other?”
