User:Loriendrew/Harpur's Ferry

Harpur's Ferry Student Volunteer Ambulance Service is a student-run emergency medical service at Binghamton University. The ambulance service is a New York State certified EMT-P agency. Harpur's Ferry is staffed and run by approximately 100 students and university staff members who also volunteer their time as Emergency Medical Technicians and Paramedics, serving both the university campus and neighboring communities directly and through regional mutual-aid agreements.

Harpur's Ferry is one of the few collegiate EMS services that is Advanced Life Support (ALS) certified. Harpur's Ferry typically responds to 400 calls per semester both on and off campus, as well as to calls on campus during the summer and winter sessions, totaling approximately 900 calls each year. Harpur's Ferry is funded by and is a chartered organization of the Student Association at Binghamton University.

The agency's name derives from the university's undergraduate "Harpur College of Arts and Sciences".

History
The organization was formed in 1973 by two university students, Adam Bernstein and Jon-Marc Weston, following an incident that occurred at an on-campus concert in 1970. With the help of the Tau Alpha Upsilon fraternity, a used ambulance was purchased from the New York City Fire Department.

Operations
The on duty crew usually consists of a Driver, Crew Chief, and one or two Attendants (who are usually also emergency medical technicians or currently enrolled in the course). While on duty, each member is required to participate in the upkeep of the Harpur's Ferry equipment and squad room. They are dispatched by the Binghamton University Police Department. On duty crews remain posted at the station, near the University's Decker Student Health Center, or within the primary jurisdiction.

Membership
Harpur's Ferry accepts new volunteers at the beginning of every semester. New members who are not already New York State Certified at either a CFR, EMT, or AEMT level must then attend a semester-long EMS orientation course known as AFAEC (Advanced First Aid Emergency Care) that teaches them about the agency, and operating procedures within Broome County as well as basic first aid skills and prepares them for taking the New York State Basic Emergency Medical Technician course the following semester. Among the approximately 100 members are about 30 certified ambulance drivers and both Advanced Life Support and Basic Life Support crew chiefs. All drivers and crew chiefs carry portable UHF radios that allow them to respond to calls when either there is no full, on-duty crew, comprising both a driver and a crew chief, in the squadroom to staff an ambulance, or the on-duty crew is already on another call.

Vehicles
Harpur's Ferry currently staffs two ALS ambulances, one Medix 2008 Chevrolet and one Road Rescue 2012 Chevrolet (call sign 7621 and 7622) and also has two "fly-cars": a Chevrolet Blazer (call sign 7651) and a Ford Expedition (call sign 7652). These two vehicles are both ALS and BLS capable and serve as utility vehicles and are also available for on-duty ambulance drivers and crew chiefs to use in order to respond to calls quickly.

The spring 2006 semester saw Harpur's Ferry place into service a John Deere Gator all-terrain vehicle enabling quicker and more efficient responses to athletic fields as well as the sprawling Nature Preserve that occupies the southern part of the University's campus. Harpur's Ferry also placed into service a special operations trailer to transport the Gator and to serve as a command post for major emergency incidents that occur on campus in addition to concerts, festivals and other large public events that demand major EMS coverage.

Accolades
In 2005, Harpur's Ferry was named New York State EMS Agency of the Year. It was also named agency of the year at the 2005-2006 and 2011-2012 National Collegiate EMS Foundation (NCEMSF) Conferences, becoming the first school in history to be honored twice.

In 2011, Harpur's Ferry provided EMS care to approximately 2,000 evacuees from the major flooding around the clock for 11 straight days. Harpur's Ferry was named Broome County EMS Agency of the year in 2011, with a major factor being their involvement with the flood relief.

In addition, Harpur's Ferry has placed first in the NCEMSF Advanced Life Support Skills Competition in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2013.