Cars of The Red Cross, I Have A Question.

[Bill Marcy]

Although we generally think of The Red Cross and ambulances, at least I do, I have a question. If The Red Cross had a station wagon back in The Fifties, or maybe even Sixties, marked with a red cross insignia on it, would they possibly have used it as an ambulance, or were they used for another purpose? Any information would be appreciated.

 

[Terry Broussard]

Long time volunteer...Unit 781

I started as a youth volunteer in the 70's. We were not a very large chapter, but did have one van used for first aid events as well as "fire watch" canteen operations. It had our Red Cross Logo, with a Red Cross, and a home brew wooden squad bench for storage, etc. A single red bulb beacon adorned the unit, but no siren. It was a Ford Econoline type van. Not sure when the modern day ERV (emergency response vehicles) by Wheeled Coach came out. BTW, the new ones will be larger Sprinter trucks....

It is possible that there were some, especially overseas in the International Red Cross where some ran ambulance services, but I have not seen a picture from the US.

Sure would be great to see what the group reports.

 

[Steve Lichtman]

Red Cross First Aid Unit

Like Terry, I started with a Red Cross youth group, the Montgomery County First Aid Unit. We were trained in Advanced First Aid and did event standbys in Montgomery County, MD and in Washington, DC. It started in 1962. (The group is no longer part of the Red Cross but still exists as an Explorer Post of a fire department.)

The Montgomery County Red Cross chapter had station wagons and a van, none of which had lights/sirens or stretchers. They were used for transportation service during the week - transporting indigent and elderly persons for doctor's appointments, etc. The First Aid Unit used the vehicles on weekends for standbys. They were just regular wagons/vans, we carried equipment to the event but didn't transport.

But we worked with the (Washington) DC Red Cross First Aid Corps for big events in DC. They started as the "Motor Ambulance Corps" during WWII and became the First Aid Corps sometime thereafter. They did indeed operate ambulances, mostly during events such as Presidential Inaugurations, the 4th of July, and festivals. DCRC ambulances stood by during the Hanafi Muslim seige of DC in 1977. But the RC ambulances also had fire department radios in them, and when they had volunteer staffing, they did also run emergency calls in the city.

All vehicles also provided support to Disaster Services when necessary.

Here are some of my photos from the 4th of July, 1989. The '78 Dodge van ambulance, RC28, was home-built and, while small, was probably one of the most practical ambulances I've run in. As was stated in our Facebook group, a lot of needlepoint projects were completed in the back of RC28. The box, RC30, was an '80 Road Rescue bought used and had a lot of electrical problems. The ERV in the background was one of the first ones Red Cross got, they were initially built by Utilmaster before they were built by Wheeled Coach, and they started in 1988.

The DC First Aid Corps was shut down in 1994. My First Aid Unit was discharged from the Red Cross in 1995.

I'll try to find some older photos from DCRC. I think they were one of the very few, if not the only, chapters of the American Red Cross to run actual ambulances.

 

[Steve Lichtman]

OK, perhaps here is WWI in DC.