New ambulance bus will assist Ridgewood on Independence Day

Ridgewood emergency workers filed into the 42-foot-long bus and stared in awe at the new type of ambulance — like a hospital-on-wheels for large-scale emergencies — which will be stationed in the parking lot behind Veterans Field this Fourth of July.

“Wow, this is a big vehicle,” said one member of Ridgewood Emergency Medical Services (EMS), part of a group receiving its orientation to the bus last Monday.

“Reminds me of being in an airplane,” said Dick Breining, Ridgewood EMS’ public information officer.

Three rows of stretchers line the sides of the bus, which is also outfitted with five suction units, a two-kilowatt generator, space for 10 wheelchairs and “enough oxygen to supply 20 [people] for two and a half hours,” according to Terry Reiss, The Valley Hospital’s Coordinator of Emergency Preparedness who led the bus orientation.

Due to its internal climate control system, “this bus gets frosty very, very quickly,” noted Reiss.

Medical Ambulance Bus 4 — also known as the “MAB 4” — was provided through a federal grant to Bergen County, and is set to serve medical needs during many large-scale events. According to Reiss, the county designated Valley Hospital as the MAB 4’s host agency and gave it the bus about three weeks ago.

The bus, as well as a second MAB from Passaic County, is being loaned by Valley to Ridgewood EMS in preparation for Independence Day, when several thousand people gather in Ridgewood for the parade and fireworks.

However, the MAB is not new to just Ridgewood. In a sense, this is part of its statewide debut.

According to Reiss, the MAB 4 is one of 13 regionally based buses in New Jersey, costing $500,000 each. The Department of Homeland Security provided funds more than a year ago to the Urban Areas Security Initiative (UASI) to provide MABs to each of the seven UASI counties in northern New Jersey.

According to Tom Rose, coordinator for Bergen County’s Office of Emergency Management, the state’s EMS Taskforce, which was developed after Sept. 11 to plan, manage and assess responses to large-scale events and emergencies, coordinated the distribution of the buses to each of the UASI counties.

The counties in turn provide the buses to designated host agencies.

According to Brian Pullman, chief of Ridgewood’s Emergency Services, each year on the Fourth of July, calls to Ridgewood EMS from various locations, including Veterans Field, Maple Park and Van Neste Square, increase in number, many for injuries like ash in the eyes and heat-related concerns. The volume of calls depends on the heat and wind factor that day, he said.

“Our fear is something we don’t plan on happening, happening,” Pullman said. “Because of the sheer volume of people, the potential is high.”

While Ridgewood EMS does not have reason to expect more emergency calls on July 4 than it has dealt with in past years, it expects the MAB 4 — as well as Passaic County’s MAB, which will be operated by Wayne Township Memorial First Aid Squad — to help it better respond to injuries on and near Veterans Field.