When the University at Albany transitioned to remote learning last semester, its student-run Five Quad Volunteer Ambulance Service quickly answered a call for help in Rockland County, one of New York’s hardest hit regions early in the pandemic.
Five Quad’s leaders quickly assembled six different crews of students during spring break, about a dozen in total, to assist with the Nanuet Ambulance Corps. emergency response calls. The students rotated 12-hour shifts through the remainder of the semester, using their own ambulance that was driven down from campus.
All Five Quad students are EMT-certified, meaning they can respond to emergency calls on their own, offering much needed relief to Nanuet’s overworked staff and volunteers. Student shifts started around 1 p.m. to ensure they were given time to complete their coursework and prepare for final exams.
“During spring break, I started volunteering as usual with Nanuet,” said Matt Zoda, a recent graduate of the College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity and Five Quad EMT. “We were seeing a much higher number of calls than normal. So, I asked our assistant chief what he thought about bringing down other members of Five Quad. A week and half later, we had them on the road with us.”
