Budget
Concerns about the recruitment practices and culture of the Stony Brook Volunteer Ambulance Corps (SBVAC) have come to light following an op-ed published by Katherine Martin, a writer under a pseudonym for their legal name, in The Statesman on April 21. Over the past year, The Statesman has investigated claims of exclusivity and unfair treatment of applicants and members in SBVAC.
According to their website, SBVAC is a New York State certified emergency ambulance agency primarily serving Stony Brook University and its surrounding areas at no cost to patients.
Jayden Reilly, the former president of SBVAC and an alumnus with a bachelor’s degree in biology and applied mathematics and statistics, offered insight last October into how the organization operates.
“We currently have three ambulances and a responder car functional up to the [advanced life support] level,” Reilly said. He noted that SBVAC is credentialed by New York State, allowing them to operate off campus and assist local fire departments like Setauket and Stony Brook Fire when needed.
In addition to providing free Emergency Medical Services (EMS), Reilly also emphasized the corps’ commitment to community engagement. “One of our other priorities is campus outreach, so we’re committed to teaching the campus [community] hands-on CPR and stop the bleed techniques,” he said.
Ray Smith, a former member of SBVAC who joined in 2014 and graduated from Stony Brook in 2021, echoed this sentiment.
“We had this camaraderie and this bond, but it always came down to we need to do what’s right for the community and we need to make sure there are people around at all times,” Smith said.
Reilly also noted the diversity of SBVAC’s membership.
“Every one of SBVAC’s members really comes from a different background. We have a great diversity in our membership and where they come from,” Reilly said.
Despite this, and despite providing EMS services free-of-charge, SBVAC’s budget, provided by the Undergraduate Student Government (USG), has been on the decline. Previous SBVAC funds have totaled $165,000 in 2011, $140,000 in 2012 and $62,000 during the 2022-2023 school year. For this upcoming year, the organization is currently receiving $52,000 with the same operational costs as previous years.
SBVAC also receives money from the Stony Brook Athletics Department when their services are required at athletic games.
“Athletics pay SBVAC on a game-by-game basis. We spent more during the 2023-[20]24 season on their services than we ever have in the past,” Jack Clark, Assistant Director of Athletic Communications, wrote in an email to The Statesman.
In addition to financial pressure, maintaining a robust membership base has also proven difficult. SBVAC specifically faced challenges in sustaining membership numbers due to the impacts of COVID-19.
“For a lot of those COVID semesters we took in a lot fewer new members than we usually would have, so that led to us having [much] smaller membership than we usually would,” Reilly said. He is optimistic that as the pandemic years are dying down, membership numbers will grow, helping with staffing for emergency calls.
