- The Exchange Ambulance of the
Islips Youth Squad is an
- organization for children ages 13 through 18. At
weekly meetings Youth
- Squad members are taught advanced first aid at
the New York State
- Certified First Responder level (CFR) as well as
ambulance operations.
- Members who exhibit excellent mastery of skills
compete as a
- team against Youth Squads from ambulance
companies throughout the
- state. Local competitions are held as well as an
annual state
- tournament. Starting at age 14 Youth Squad
members are taught
- dispatching skills and work one 6 hour shift a
week dispatching from our
- Head Quarters. Also, starting at 16 Youth Squad
members are permitted
- to ride on the ambulance as observers for one
6-hour shift a week. It
- is not often that a 16-year-old can say that they
have helped to save a
- life!
- By both dispatching and
riding, when a Youth Squad member turns 18
- and steps up to the senior corp., they are
already experienced in all
- aspects of ambulance operations. They are able to
go through EMT class
- very easily as they have already mastered all
most all of the skills,
- and make the transition to working as EMT's on
their own as senior
- members almost instantly after becoming
certified.
- To help reward our Youth Squad members for their
hard work, they
- are also given 50% of their time in the Youth
Squad towards their life
- membership in the senior corp. of Exchange
Ambulance, to a maximum of 2
- years. For example someone who joins the Youth
Squad at age 13 and
- stays a member until 18 would join the senior
corp. with 2 years towards
- their life membership.
- Besides teaching first aid
skills that can be used to a save the
- life of a family member, friend, or even a
stranger, the Youth Squad
- gives kids a way to serve their community and
feel a sense of
- involvement and pride.