Scarsdale's First Responders Honored at Public Safety Awards Ceremony

Twenty-two first responders were recognized at the Public Safety Awards Ceremony on September 13 at Crossway Firehouse. David Raizen, President of the Scarsdale Volunteer Ambulance Corps was the Master of Ceremonies with remarks from Village Manage Al Gatta, Scarsdale Mayor Bob Steve, Scarsdale Trustee Kay Eisenman and Scarsdale Police Chief John Brogan.

Below are remarks from David Raizen as he announced the awards with photos courtesy of EMT Scott Rubins.

Good morning to Mayor Steves, the Board of Trustees, Village Manager Gatta, Chief Brogan, Deacon Gaskin, and distinguished guests.

Chief Brogan, I am proud of the 43 yearlong relationship between the finest police department in Westchester and our Volunteer Ambulance Corps. It is you and your excellent officers that keep us safe while we do our job and I want to publicly thank you for the great work your department performs for the well-being and security of our first responders and the Scarsdale community.

Scarsdale Volunteer Ambulance Corps was dispatched to more than 1,300 calls this year and transported 796 patients to nearby hospitals. SVAC handles 99.9% of its calls without going mutual aid.

Last year 7% of our calls were handled by a second crew, predominantly by a dedicated group of five pager-wearing members who leave work, family functions and half-eaten meals to generate a response time that continually beats the national average of first due ambulances.

In 2012, 11% of our calls were mutual aid requests. We responded as far west to Hastings, as far east into Rye, and most frequently to Greenburg and New Rochelle. These calls to help our neighboring towns included heart attacks, unresponsives, choking victims, major traumas, and more.

Most of what SVAC does in a year goes unnoticed by the general public. And, because of HIPAA laws, we have nobody to share our war stories with. There are many moments of stress, some moments of grief, and even a few moments of laughter.

When we were in our planning phase for Super Storm Sandy working with the Police, Fire, Public Works and town officials we had no idea as to the level of destruction the village infrastructure would face. So we stationed our 3 ambulances throughout the village. One at our headquarters, one at Station 1 and the third ambulance was stationed at the city garage. This advanced planning by our community leaders paid off.
During the first 28 hours of activity for Super Storm Sandy we received 13 dispatches for medical calls and some of the calls were at the height of the storm with transport times exceeding one hour to get to White Plains Hospital since so many roads were blocked.

I would like to recognize the many individuals that were the first responders on these calls and ask that you come forward when I read your name.

Paramedic, Robert Cinquemani
Paramedic, Scott Glaessgen
Paramedic, Robert Rizzo
Paramedic, Will Pendleton
EMT, Rachel Chalchinsky
EMT, James Gross
EMT, Drew Hahn
EMT, David Lawless
EMT, Andre Mercado
EMT, Kathy Pascale
EMT, David Raizen
EMT, Genevieve Ronan-Schechter
EMT, Scott Rubins
Crew: Cash Jones

On behalf of the village and residents of Scarsdale I thank you all.
During the High School Graduation on June 22, 2012 the air temperature reached 91° with the humidity at 96%. As the graduation was concluding suddenly 12 people needed to be carried off the field and be treated for serious heat related illness. Another dozen or so walked into our triage tent seeking medical attention or escape from the heat and humidity.
The following individuals are receiving special recognition for their work in treating so many patients with expediency and care under these extreme heat conditions. Will the following join me.

1. Paramedic, Jeff Ferrara
2. Paramedic, Al Garavito
3. EMT, James Gross
4. EMT, Marc Guthartz
5. EMT, Drew Hahn
6. EMT, David Lawless
7. EMT, David Raizen and crew members
8. Debbie Fuchs and
9. Jon Thaler

Congratulations to you all!
Will Paramedic, Robert Rizzo and EMT, Drew Hahn please come forward.

On August 24, 2012 just before 6 am Paramedic Rizzo and EMT Hahn were dispatched by the Scarsdale Police Dept. to the Hutchinson River Parkway and delivered a healthy 5lb baby girl named Savannah.

Would EMT, James Gross please come up!

We have a Commitment Award for this SVAC volunteer who continues to serve well beyond what is expected from him. EMT Gross is receiving recognition for dedicating over 1,500 hours of service to this community in 2012. Thank you Jim for your above and beyond effort.

Jim please stay here... and would EMT, Drew Hahn please come up!

We have a Special Recognition Award for these two SVAC volunteers who helped us move into the age of electronic data collection. Both Drew and Jim worked for over a year and successfully implemented a system for the electronic patient care record in order to comply with recent state regulations. Drew... Jim... thank you and congratulations.
I would like to ask EMT, Marc Guthartz and EMT, Karen Sheer Carpenter to please come forward for our final recognition award.

This Special Recognition Award is not for their longstanding service to the community as the Emergency Medical Technicians they are, but for their work in community outreach.

EMT, Guthartz and EMT, Sheer-Carpenter have each trained over 500 citizens in CPR, the use of an AED and Choking Rescue. The classes they conduct are 4 hours long and held several times a month at the ambulance headquarters. On behalf of Scarsdale and its neighboring communities we thank you for your work in training others to help save lives.

In closing ... I would again like to thank the Village for inviting us here today and thank Village Manager Gatta, and the Board of Trustees for their unwavering support.

Let's have a final round of applause for all of our award recipients and for all the first responders here today.