Village F.D. launches first EMS-only volunteer squad

It was about a year ago when Valley Streamer Mary DiCapua realized she was a people person.

Working at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, DiCapua, who earned a degree in photography from the Fashion Institute of Technology, took the greatest pleasure in working with patrons, she said.

“That was the part of the job that tired everyone out,” DiCapua, 25, said of interacting with the public. “. . . But that was the part that gave me life.”

So she chose a new career path, and began taking prerequisite classes to join the pre-med track at Stony Brook University, hoping to eventually attend medical school. She also became a volunteer emergency medical technician with the Valley Stream Fire Department. 

“Making yourself available to take care of people, and help people who can’t help themselves, is such a rewarding experience,” DiCapua said, “and here, as a volunteer, I’m able to give back to my community, which is a bonus on top of it.”

DiCapua is the department’s first EMT-only volunteer, sworn in on Feb. 23, and according to Fire Chief Jason Croak, is also the first member of its EMS squad, which was created as an additional avenue for residents to volunteer with the department. In the past, all department EMTs were also required to complete firefighter training.

“What we did was we opened the doors for people like Mary who don’t want to be firefighters,” he explained. “They just want another opportunity to volunteer and provide service to the community.”

Croak said the move was as least partially in response to a growing statewide shortage of volunteer EMS service members. According to a 2019 report by the New York State Emergency Medical Services Council, the number of certified EMS providers in New York dropped 9 percent over the past decade, and has in some cases led to increased response times for first-responder agencies.

The decline has hit rural areas the hardest, according to the survey, but suburban fire departments are feeling it too, and a 2015 report by the Nassau County Emergency Medical Services Academy suggested departments consider allowing EMS-only members to join, much as the Valley Stream Fire Department has.

DiCapua had already completed an accelerated two-month EMT certification course through Northwell Health over the past summer before applying to the department, which she said helped speed the creation of the squad and smooth some of the logistical hurdles that came with creating a new class of volunteers, but for any additional residents looking to become a volunteer EMT, the VSFD will take care of the certification for free.

“This was a good fit for us because as the first member joining our fire-medic program, she’s an EMT,” department Lt. Michael Seltzer said. “So that actually took half the burden off of us right away, but any member that’s willing to go for the EMT . . . we can sponsor you, and you don’t have to pay.”

DiCapua said that applying was simple, and after emailing the department website, she was working within a week with other existing members to bring the EMS-only squad to life. 

“I don’t think people are really aware that they could just walk into their local fire department and ask questions on how to sign up or what to do if they’re interested in getting involved,” she said. “But fire departments are very welcoming, and open to everyone who comes in and inquires about what they can do or how they can help.”

Although she has yet to go on a medical call with the department, she said she feels ready, having developed strategies to cope with the stress of being an EMT, which is widely considered one of the most anxiety-provoking professions in the health-care industry.

“You have a big responsibility to stay calm in those stressful situations, and the patient, they’re having been a pretty bad day if they called an ambulance, so you don’t want to add stress to that that situation,” she said. “It’s just important to remind yourself that you’re there to help them.”

Going from fine arts to medicine has been a big change, DiCapua admitted, and while she still holds a passion for photography, looking back, particularly after experience at the Met, she said the decision made sense.

“Now I’m able to help people on a more deeper, significant scale than I was before, which is what I decided I’m going to continue doing as I go further and further in my career,” she said, and encouraged others to explore their options.

“It’s never too late,” she said.