Binghamton University News
- Details
- Written by: Scott Savett
- Category: Binghamton University News
- Published:
- Hits: 0 5532
By Meghan Perri
Inside Binghamton University
When there is an emergency on campus, Harpur’s Ferry, Binghamton University’s student-run ambulance service, is the first to respond.
“We operate 24/7, 365 days a year,” said Naveen Shetty, financial coordinator of Harpur’s Ferry and a senior majoring in biology and economics. “When someone on campus calls 911, University Police dispatch us, and, unlike the other ambulances in the city, we are free of charge.”
Harpur’s Ferry, established in 1973 and made up of more than 100 student volunteers, serves as the primary ambulance service for all on campus, providing basic and advanced life support services. The organization, currently funded solely through the Student Association, is now reaching out to faculty members for additional financial support.
As of next year, Harpur’s Ferry will become a New York State Employees Federal Appeal (SEFA) organization, said Brandon Azoulai, assistant chief of Harpur’s Ferry and a junior majoring in neuroscience. This will allow University employees to donate directly to the ambulance service’s Student Association account.
“We want to appeal to faculty members to help fund us because we are as equally available to them as we are to students,” Azoulai said. “We serve them in everything, whether it is a sprained ankle or a stroke or heart attack.”
In addition to seeking faculty and staff support, Harpur’s Ferry is also looking to pursue federal grants and donations from the Graduate Student Union and other organizations on campus.
Harpur’s Ferry hopes to make several large purchases in the coming years, Shetty said.Along with technological upgrades, the organization plans to purchase a new ambulance to replace one that is over 10 years old and in need of extensive repairs. The ambulance will cost over $150,000.
While the ambulance is an expenditure that has been budgeted for, its price tag makes it difficult for Harpur’s Ferry to budget for other necessities, like replacing aging cardiac monitors that are no longer being produced.
“The cardiac monitors are our primary defibrillators,” Azoulai said. “They take vitals, pulse and blood-oxygen levels, and they can act as an external pacemakers. Not only are they important for patient care, but we cannot function as an advanced ambulance service without them.”
Harpur’s Ferry’s importance to campus and the Binghamton community has been widely recognized. It was named the Broome County 2011 EMS Agency of the Year after providing emergency care and transportation to an estimated 2,000 people during the flood of Sept.2011. In 2005 and 2011, the National Collegiate EMS Foundation named it the Collegiate EMS Organization of the Year, making Harpur’s Ferry the first organization to be honored twice.
“There is a lot to be said for your community members helping you,” Azoulai said. “There is a greater level of empathy, and the response times we have are phenomenal because we are located on campus. We know all the buildings and intricacies of campus, so we are able to get there much faster.”
To make a contribution to Harpur’s Ferry, visit www.harpursferry.org .
- Details
- Written by: Doug Buchan
- Category: Binghamton University News
- Published:
- Hits: 0 6034
- Details
- Written by: Scott Savett
- Category: Binghamton University News
- Published:
- Hits: 0 5544
By Jennifer Roganti
Pipe Dream
For the second time, Harpur's Ferry has been recognized as the No. 1 collegiate Emergency Medical Service agency in the nation.
Binghamton University's student-run ambulance service was awarded the Collegiate EMS Organization of the Year at the National Collegiate Emergency Medical Services Foundation's 19th Annual Conference this past weekend for the 2011-12 school year. At the conference, agencies engage in skills competitions and attend lectures. At the end of the weekend awards are distributed.
This year, the conference was held in Baltimore, where 959 representatives from 99 schools were in attendance.
Harpur's Ferry also won the award in 2005, making it the first agency to win the award twice.
Robbie Cohen, chief executive director of Harpur's Ferry, said this is the highest award given to a collegiate ambulance service and marks Harpur's Ferry as the top organization in the foundation, which is composed of 250 agencies.
"Being ranked as No. 1 in the nation is really rewarding," said Cohen, a senior double-majoring in political science and history. "We appreciate the support and trust that we get not only from our membership, but from the campus and the students of BU."
Jennifer Larson, public relations coordinator and a senior majoring in biochemistry, said Harpur's Ferry participation in last September's devastating local floods was a main reason it won the award. During an 11-day period after the storm, Harpur's Ferry was the primary transport agency and provided emergency care and transportation to an estimated 2,000 people.
Most notably, Harpur's Ferry members were called to attend to a woman who was not breathing at 1 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 9. They found she didn't have a pulse, performed CPR and defibrillated her successfully. This "save" is one of only three in the 38-year history of Harpur's Ferry.
In the past year, Harpur's Ferry answered 991 calls, a quarter of which were answered during the flood, according to Cohen.
Harpur's Ferry's was also recognized for its personal training conference held in November, according to Cohen. This lecture series featured guest speakers trained in various fields of medicine. Its purpose was to teach EMTs new methods of aid.
Pavel Antonov, Harpur's Ferry operations director and second assistant director, said the agency is still improving. They are currently coordinating with Binghamton's New York State University Police to integrate ideas on dispatching, and are also creating a push for CPR education on campus.
"It is important that as many people as possible know CPR," he said.
Antonov, a senior majoring in biological chemistry, also spoke about Harpur's Ferry's participation in a county-wide mutual aid policy, which requires Harpur's Ferry to take calls for other towns if their local agency is busy. They have traveled as far as New York City — in the past year they covered about 100 mutual aid calls.
John Anthony Tanzi, an attendant for Harpur's Ferry and a senior majoring in English, said he was pleased about Harpur's Ferry recognition.
"It's nice to be recognized as the cream of the crop," he said.
Tanzi said that with Harpur's Ferry's year-round dedication to campus and the Binghamton area, especially during the flood, it would have come as a surprise if it had not won.
"I would have been shocked if we did not receive the award, considering the high quality of patient care we provide and the high quality of members we have in the agency," he said.
Timmy Shin/Staff Photographer
Harpur’s Ferry stands in the Events Center during the aftermath of the September 2011 flooding. Last weekend, the organization was awarded Collegiate EMS Organization of the Year at the National Collegiate Emergency Medical Services Foundation’s 19th Annual Conference.
- Details
- Written by: Scott Savett
- Category: Binghamton University News
- Published:
- Hits: 0 6597
From Newschannel 34, Binghamton, NY
Binghamton University’s student volunteer ambulance service, Harpur’s Ferry, has been named National Collegiate Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Agency of the Year by the National Collegiate Emergency Medical Services Foundation (NCEMSF).
Harpur’s Ferry made history by being the only agency to have won the award twice, having also been honored in 2005. The award was presented to members of Harpur’s Ferry at the 2012 NCEMSF conference held Feb. 24 – 26 in Baltimore, MD. Harpur’s Ferry was selected from among 262 campus-based emergency response groups in the United States and Canada. The Binghamton University ambulance service was recognized for its dedication to the Binghamton University campus and community, particularly in respect to the services provided during the regional flood disaster of 2011.
"The membership of Harpur’s Ferry is thankful for the trust that the Binghamton University students, administrators and staff have in us," said Robbie Cohen, executive director and chief of Harpur's Ferry. "We would not have been able to achieve this great accomplishment without their support."
This is the second recognition in under 6 months for Harpur’s Ferry, having been recently honored with the Broome County 2011 EMS Agency of the Year award.
Harpur’s Ferry, which was established in 1973, provides free basic and advanced life support services to students, faculty and staff on and off the Binghamton University campus. The organization has approximately 100 student volunteers who work anywhere between 6 and 24 hours per week during the academic year. Each volunteer is required to participate in a 72-hour advanced first aid class, as well as a 140-hour EMT course.
- Details
- Written by: Scott Savett
- Category: Binghamton University News
- Published:
- Hits: 0 4587
By JASON BUSCH
EMS World
Harpur’s Ferry provided aid to nearly 2,000 evacuees
When things go wrong, they usually all go wrong at the same time, as in "when it rains, it pours."
But when it pours, it floods. And the way in which people respond to a natural disaster like a flood go a long way toward righting those wrongs.
On Sept. 7, 2011, rain fell in Binghamton, NY, not atypical for that time of year in southern New York. But the weather progressively worsened as Tropical Storm Lee moved through, swelling the Susquehanna River. Flood walls were built to withstand a flood stage of 25 feet. The river was expected to rise two feet above that.
Called in to assist with evacuees being sheltered at Binghamton University’s Events Center that day was Harpur’s Ferry (HF) Ambulance. That wouldn’t be unusual, except HF isn’t your typical EMS agency.
Harpur’s Ferry is a student-run ALS ambulance agency based out of Binghamton University. "We currently have 100 student members, 10 of which [comprise] our agency’s staff leadership," says Jennifer Larson, HF’s public relations coordinator. "Harpur’s Ferry has two ALS ambulances, two ALS fly cars, a John Deere Gator and a command trailer. All members are required to obtain their New York State EMT-Basic certification and each have the option to take the Advanced EMT-Critical Care Class sponsored by the agency. We also offer EVOC to our members that are drivers, or training to be a driver."
Sound like a little much for a student volunteer ambulance service? Not when its annual call volume is typically between 800 and 900 calls. And that level of service came in handy during the 11 days HF provided emergency care for nearly 2,000 evacuees.
"At 4:30 p.m., Campus Emergency Manager Dave Hubeny sent a text message alert asking the incident management team personnel to report to the Events Center to staff the command post," says Larson. Shortly after, the campus was notified that the Events Center was open as an evacuee shelter. HF immediately mobilized available personnel. Chief Robbie Cohen and Operations Director Pavel Antonov reported to the Command Post for a briefing and to review the incident action plan. From there a treatment room was set up to provide care to patients and all HF operations were moved to the Events Center.
"Harpur’s Ferry treated 257 patients throughout our (24-hour-a-day, 11 day) flood response," says Larson. "The Events Center Shelter held both members of the general population and contained an area specific for special needs evacuees. The special events area was staffed by numerous doctors and nurses, and contained a pharmacy for evacuee use."
During the ordeal HF also provided mutual aid to Senior Care EMS, Rural Metro EMS and Guilfoyle Ambulance. "To the best of our knowledge we also set up the first intercollegiate EMS mutual aid with SUNY Oneonta and SUNY Cortland EMS," adds Larson. "In addition, we worked with the Broome County Department of Health, the American Red Cross, United Health Services and Binghamton University in coordinating our shelter operations."
That HF has such a well-trained student volunteer staff was a clear benefit to all those it helped during the late summer flood. But the event also provided a valuable learning experience for HF volunteers.
"As a collegiate agency, our typical calls are conducive with the college age population," says Larson. "A majority of our calls are for sports injuries or intoxication. We do see a variety of other calls, though, as we participate in Broome County’s mutual aid system. We encountered quite a different population during the flood, though. Since the shelter consisted of a generally older population, we saw many patients with chronic illness like diabetes, and encountered atypical emergencies (for a collegiate agency) such as strokes."
For more information about Harpur’s Ferry Ambulance, visit www.harpursferry.org.