MEDICAL TRANSPORT
Volunteers for the Indian River Volunteer Ambulance Squad Steve MacNamee and Jim Kastensmidt are part of the team of almost 70 that has made getting
to non-emergency medical appointments a pleasant experience for county residents.
68
Treasure Coast Medical Report
ED DRONDOSKI PHOTOS
VOLUNTEER AMBULANCE SQUAD
GETS PATIENTS TO APPOINTMENTS
Free service offered in Indian River County
for half a century
BY WILLI MILLER
It’s a given. For medical emergencies, you call 911. What
happens, though, if it isn’t an emergency and you have
to see a doctor, or go to a rehab session or dialysis treatment,
and have no way to get there? For Indian River
County residents without other options, the answer is the
free Indian River County Volunteer Ambulance Squad.
When the squad began almost 50 years ago, it was the
county’s emergency transport service. In 1989, when the
county decided to go with a professional emergency service,
the volunteer staff realized that disbanding the unit would
leave many patients unable to get the non-emergency help
they needed.
One of the volunteers who was there for the transition is
still volunteering 34 years later. Walter Burns, 85, recalls,
“The crew took one ambulance, stripped it down and made
it a transport vehicle, rigged to take wheelchairs. We had
about 10 members, an administrator and one vehicle. ... The
chief of the squad went around to ask doctors if they would
financially support the service, and got enough support to
start.” IRVAS now has 50 members and 10 vehicles, with four
>>