Great Neck Vigilant Fire Company, like many EMS first responder agencies throughout New York State, is finding that as the numbers of those infected with COVID‐19 increases, our call volume is similarly increasing.
As a result of the challenges and constraints we face in light of the current health crisis, we are operating with limited resources.
Each time we send one of our ambulance crews out on a call that is not a true emergency, we could potentially be delaying assistance to someone who really needs our help. Additionally, we risk exposing our crew to COVID‐19 and losing those EMT personnel for weeks until they can return to service.
For this reason, as the need for our services for true emergencies increases, we are asking anyone who is thinking of calling us to first ask themselves these two critical questions first:
- Can I get to the hospital by another means other than an ambulance?
- Is it better for me to stay home rather than risk my being exposed to COVID‐19 by going to a hospital that most likely has many COVID‐19 infected patients inside?
If you can answer yes to either of these questions, you should not be calling for an ambulance.
For your own health and well-being, for the health and safety of our dedicated EMT crews, and for the safety and health of all in our community, please only call for an ambulance if it is truly a medical emergency
Philip Katz,
Great Neck Vigilant Fire Company president
