Ever since the New York Post’s half-truth article about FDNY and the NYC Vollies, I have been approached by people who know that I am involved with them asking me when they were in fact closing. The fact is, that unless they are already in dire financial stress (which quite a few are), the NYC Vollies are not closing.

Apparently I am not the only one. Here is a Letter to the Editor of the Queens Chronicle who ran a much better story although the tone was similar as the Post article:

Dear Editor:
We write with interest in response to your front-page article featuring Queens volunteer ambulance corps in peril (“FDNY shuts out ambulance corps,” Jan. 21). Since this publication many of our members have been personally stopped on the street numerous times by residents with great concern over the perception of the potential closure of our ambulance service, the Woodhaven-Richmond Hill Volunteer Ambulance Corps. We would like to go on record in assuring all our residents that WRHVAC in the foreseeable future is not closing.
Actually, quite to the contrary, our ambulance service within the past year has seen a marked increase in call volume and the amount of tours which we have been putting out on the street to better service our communities. WRHVAC has a good and professional relationship with both the FDNY and hospital-based units which we interact with on an everyday basis. We are committed to providing the best, most professional service possible to the communities of Woodhaven, Richmond Hill and Kew Gardens.
This is not to deny that presently or in the past there have been issues between the volunteer and municipal (FDNY) sector. This being said, we hope that any issues which the volunteers have with FDNY will come to an immediate resolution reached professionally and tactfully on the party of both parties. WRHVAC hopes that recent articles in papers will not affect the ongoing relationship which most ambulance corps have with these units.
The WRHVAC is an all-volunteer ambulance service. To maintain our service we depend on committed communities members like you! If you are interested in getting involved please call us at (718) 296-7918.
The officers of the
Woodhaven-Richmond Hill VAC
Woodhaven
Editor’s note: Nothing in the article or an editorial supporting the ambulance corps implied that any might close. If you missed either item, find it in the archives at queenschronicle.com.

I wonder if this is the reaction those involved with the articles expected.

I highly doubt it.

Full Disclosure: I am a member of the Forest Hills Volunteer Ambulance Corps in Forest Hills, Queens and have been a member of that Corps since 1994