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First Hospital Ambulance, Bellevue Hospital Center, 1869.
When a sleek, horse-drawn ambulance made its debut at New York City’s Bellevue Hospital in 1869, tucked beneath the driver’s seat was a quart of brandy. There were tourniquets, sponges, bandages, splints, blankets and — if you envisioned difficult customers — a straitjacket. The driver cleared traffic ahead with an imperious gong, and a doctor bounced along in back.
Removable floor slats served as a stretcher. The first such service in the world was so innovative, it was soon imitated in major cities across the country and throughout Europe. These vehicles laid a clear milestone in hospital history, but they also testify to the strict limitations of medicine in the 1870s — an era in which tobacco was used to stave off infection, and asepsis (sterilization) was tomorrow’s invention.
The ambulance used by Bellevue, now part of America’s Essential Hospitals member NYC Health + Hospitals, was the brainchild of Edward B. Dalton, a staff surgeon whose administrative skills won him an appointment as Inspector of the Army of the Potomac during the Civil War. Placed in charge of transport and care of the wounded, he created an efficient service for bringing casualties to field hospitals.
Returning to Bellevue after the war, Dalton recognized how a relatively lightweight vehicle (600-800 pounds) could be adapted to the streets of burgeoning New York City. The first year they operated, Bellevue ambulances answered some 1,401 calls. Two decades later, the service brought in nearly 4,400 patients. Not until 1924, a generation after the arrival of the automobile, did the last horses retire, turned out to pasture at an upstate farm.
In a new podcast series by a physician at association member NYC Health + Hospitals, Beth Feldpush, DrPH, the association's senior vice president of policy and advocacy, unpacks the complex patchwork of payments that keep essential hospitals afloat.
learn more »In a Health Affairs Forefront commentary, the association's current, immediate past, and incoming board chairs say essential hospitals’ indispensable role, unique characteristics, and financial fragility argue for recognizing them as a distinct class in public health and policymaking.
learn more »The Federal Action Network (FAN) is a community that connects essential hospital advocates with other professionals interested in federal politics and policymaking. FAN offers advocates the opportunity to enhance their engagement with the legislative and regulatory issues that matter most to their hospitals.
learn more »America’s Essential Hospitals is the leading association and champion for hospitals dedicated to equitable, high-quality care for all, including those who face social and financial barriers to care. Since 1981, America’s Essential Hospitals has advanced policies and programs that promote health, health care access, and equity.
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