Overview

The members of the Dobbs Ferry Volunteer Ambulance Corps are ready to respond 24 hours a day 7 days a week 365 days a year. DFVAC is a New York State Certified Basic Life Support Ambulance Service and staff its ambulances with a minimum of one New York State Certified Basic Emergency Medical Technician (EMT-Basic) and a CPR/First-Aid certified Driver. Click here to learn more about different types of membership categories.

As response requirements changed and the economy turned to double income households, DFVAC has supplemented our volunteer base with paid staffing to ensure that our ambulances are staffed with the appropriate personnel at all times.

Funding

The operations of the Dobbs Ferry Volunteer Ambulance Corps are run on a tight budget with only necessary expenses being incurred. The main income streams for many volunteer ambulance corps (VACs) are twofold. The first being billing returns for ambulance treatment and transport as reimbursed by the patient's insurance company and the second being donations from community members and other organizations. At DFVAC, our day to day operations (salaries for supplemental paid staffing, equipment, and supplies) are generally covered by the "soft billing" recoveries. However, many of our other costs, including new ambulances, training supplies, and training costs, are in excess of these billings and rely on community member donation. Your donation would go directly to our operating budget and would help us ensure that our training programs and ambulances do not become outdated and advance with new technologies. An important item to note is that the Dobbs Ferry Volunteer Ambulance Corps receives minimal funding from the Village of Dobbs Ferry or an no funding from the Town of Greenburgh.

Coverage Area

The Dobbs Ferry Volunteer Ambulance Corps is the primary 911 EMS response agency for the Village of Dobbs Ferry, New York. This includes Dobbs Ferry Community Hospital, Children's Village, St. Christopher's, Masters School, St. Cabrini Nursing Home and all commercial and residential properties within the village. 

In addition to being the primary agency for Dobbs Ferry,  DFVAC is a participant in the Westchester County EMS Mutual Aid Plan. As a participant, our ambulances will respond to neighboring jurisdictions in their times of need. In accordance with this agreement, mutual aid responses occur when a participating agency is unable to respond to a 911 call due to a lack of resources, multiple pending calls, a mass casualty incident or other triggering events. The benefit of the Mutual Aid Plain allows our village to receive an ambulance if we are short of resources. If you see an ambulance from our neighbors in Hastings-On-Hudson, Ardsley, or Irvington they may be responding to the aid of a Dobbs Ferry resident. This system of Mutual Aid assures that all the towns are protected, at all times through our joint cooperation.

As a National Incident Management System (NIMS) compliant agency DFVAC may be called to assist during extreme incidents, acts of terrorism or natural disasters.

Dispatch

Our ambulances are dispatched via "tones" by the Dobbs Ferry Police Department's (DFPD) Public Safety Answering Point. When calling 911, callers will be routed to either a County dispatch center or the DFPD directly. In either circumstance DFPD will "tone out" the ambulance notifying crew members their assistance is required.

ADVANCED LIFE SUPPORT

As a Basic Life Support Ambulance Service, DFVAC provides a level of care which is appropriate for many medical emergencies. However for more severe emergencies, Greenburgh Police Department (GPD) Paramedics provide Advanced Life Support to our patients. The GPD paramedics are able to perform a wider variety of medical procedures in the field and improve patient outcomes in many cardiac, stroke, or trauma cases.