August 8, 2001

Bike Medics Now Offer EMS Service in Flushing

No, that wasn't the Tour De France making its way through Downtown Flushing this past weekend. It was the new Bike Medics, hired by Flushing Hospital to help ensure the safety and healthcare of the community.

Thanks to Flushing Hospital Medical Center, the very busy Downtown Flushing Business District will now have the Bike Medics on patrol to help serve the thousands of residents, patrons and visitors that occupy the area everyday.

The concept of providing medical assistance to people from a bicycle unit is a relatively new one. In fact, Jamaica Hospital was the first hospital in the country to offer such a program. According to the original plan, Jamaica Hospital medics would patrol nearby Forest Park during the busy summer months and provide treatment to those who injured themselves while in the park. The program then spread to other frequently trafficked busy districts in the area. The program received a great deal of praise from elected officials, the media and most importantly the community.

Jamaica Hospital's parent organization, MediSys now also operates Flushing Hospital so the decision to bring the successful program to Flushing Hospital was an easy one to make. With the input of many community leaders, Flushing Hospital program coordinators decided the downtown district, more specifically the area between Northern Blvd., Sanford Ave., College Point Blvd. and Booth Memorial Ave. would benefit the most from this program. With its many stores and crowed streets, the downtown area is difficult to navigate and, as proven in the past, Bike Medics are a highly efficient means of providing medical assistance in highly congested or inaccessible areas.

The Bike Medics can easily navigate through a crowd or through a wooded area and provide service faster than other conventional forms of EMS service. The staff of certified Emergency Medical Technicians undergoes a very intense training course; they carry a full compliment of basic life support equipment and are qualified to treat any emergency. Fully aware of the community we serve, Flushing Hospital also made arrangements to provide Bike Medics that are fluent in Korean as well as both the Mandarin and Cantonese dialects of Chinese. The program, which officially began on Wednesday, August 1, 2001, is scheduled to have Bike Medics on patrol every Wednesday through Sunday, from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m.

Flushing Hospital is happy to provide this service to the community. Program organizers believe the Bike Medic program is the just latest example of Flushing Hospital's ability to identify a need and meet it. In the past few years, Flushing Hospital has added beds and services to the hospital. It also has expanded it emergency department and opened its clinics in the evening and on weekends to meet the growing need. Flushing Hospital also unveiled its plans for a major modernization plan recently which will make Flushing Hospital one of the most advanced hospitals in the city.

Bike Medics, as well as program coordinators are available for photograph and interview opportunities.