In October 1992, the Summit Volunteer First Aid Squad became one of the first agencies in the state to provide Emergency Medical Services with EMTs on bicycles. Since that time the Bike Team has been deployed at various events involving large numbers of people and/or large areas to cover. The bicycles are of particular value at crowded events where ambulance response might be delayed.
Events in our coverage area, the City of Summit, covered by the Bike Team include:
Once word of our existence got around, we began to receive invitations to events outside of our area. In 1996 the team visited neighboring Cranford for thier 125 year anniversary parade and celebration. We also traveled to the Rutgers New Brunswick campus to cover the Hyacinth Foundation AIDS walk. We were invited to return in 1997 and served as the lead EMS agency for the event. The team worked with the Rutgers and New Brunswick Police Departments and BLS units from Rutgers Emergency Services and Robert Wood Johnson Medical Center. There were several minor injuries, all of which were handled by the Bike Team.
In 1997 we were also invited to cover the July 4th parade in neighboring Chatham. 3 members of the team handled that assignment, while 3 others provided coverage at the Independence Day celebration in Summit. We were quite pleased to be able to cover 2 simultaneous events. Our Team also joined forces with ALS Bike teams from Overlook Hospital and St. Elizabeth's Hospital to cover the annual Mount Carmel celebration in Berkeley Heights. 2 combination ALS/BLS teams and 2 BLS teams provided primary first responder coverage at this event of about 20,000 people.
2 of our members also joined the Overlook MICU team at the Bernardsville Fire Department 100th anniversary parade. (You don't truly appreciate the rolling hills of Bernardsville until you've biked them!)
Of course, this wouldn't be an true EMS organization if someone didn't establish Standard Operating Procedures. From the team's humble beginings as an experiment, we have now developed Bicycle EMS Operating Procedures and a standard equipment list and a training program.