Old EMS buses

[Capttomo]

The bread vans.....before the days of Paramedics. A driver and a Corpsman. Notice the front bumper. It was a rubber bladder filled with water. If they hit something the plugs on the top would pop out.....supposedly dampened low impact hits. Some of the Taxi Cabs had those bumpers back then as well. I always wondered if the bumper froze to a big block of ice in the winter. I believe these buses were based out of the old Fordham Hospital.

 

[Elmerj]

They were still in use up until late 1984. Used only for hospital grounds transfer from Jacobi main building to VanEtten hospital also on the grounds of the Jacobi campus. I would imagine that other facilities had them still in use for grounds transport but I can only remember Jacobi.

 

[don333]

Didn't some of the older ones, from the 70's, have racks bolted to the walls to carry additional stretchers?

 

[memorymaster]

The prior models did not have dual rear wheels. Prior to the color scheme of red/white, the later orange/white, the colors were grey over blue and labeled "Dept. Of Hospitals". The crews were a M.V.O. (Motor Vehicle Operator" and an "Ambulance Attendant." The MVO wore a blue uniform and the Attendant wore white. The use of the siren was frowned upon except for cases of extreme emergency (which leaves room for interpretation I guess.)

 

[JohnnyGage]

Rode one as a Corpsman (One of the first with green uniform, we were the "Ambulance attendant" and "MVO" all rolled into one.) We had a bread box truck a few times when our regular rigs went out of service. Uncomfortable to say the least, especially midnight-8am tour roving around East New York. Hard to heat, and if you weren't driving you had a make shift seat or stand or you sat on the much too low bench in the back. Comfortable ride? Think riding in a Conestoga covered wagon...as for siren, chirps from steering wheel most of the time unless CPR going on or severe trauma in back.