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The Katonah-Bedford Hills Volunteer Ambulance Corps, originally called the Katonah Lions Ambulance Corps, was founded in 1963 through the efforts of its founding members and the sponsorship of the Katonah Lions Club. The donation of a 1947 Cadillac ambulance by the Katonah Fire Department enabled the Corps to respond to 16 calls in its first year of operation.
In October, 1964, the Corps purchased a newer ambulance which they housed in the Ruger’s barn for several years. In 1967 the present property was purchased from the Town of Bedford and a small ambulance garage was constructed. By 1968, communications with the Bedford Police Department had been established through the installation of a radio in the ambulance. The next few years witnessed tremendous growth; a sophisticated radio and pager communications system was installed, membership doubled in size, and a second ambulance was purchased to handle the increase in emergency medical calls. In 1980, the name of the Corps was changed from the Katonah Lions Ambulance Corps to its current name today. In the same year, the Town of Bedford developed a town-wide emergency medical response system which included the Police Emergency Unit, our ambulance, the Bedford Village Fire Department ambulance and the Katonah Fire Department Rescue truck.
In 1987, through donations of labor and materials from the community and many hours of hard work by the Corps members, a new building was completed on the site of the old garage. In addition to housing two fully equipped ambulances, it provided a center for community CPR courses and First Aid training.
In 1988 the Corps became a New York State Certified Ambulance Corps, which mandated stricter rules governing personnel and equipment. The ambulances began carrying defibrillators and were able to integrate the police emergency service units into an early defibrillation team response – the first such program in the state. Throughout the nineties, the number of patients increased to more than six hundred per year. Northern Westchester Hospital and the New York State Department of Health added to the number of treatments and medications used on the ambulances, including early interventions for cardiac, allergic and asthmatic emergencies The transition into the twenty first century brought additional levels of treatment into our emergency medicine care. The County of Westchester mandated the use of paramedics for Advanced Life Support (ALS) medical calls and the ambulance corps quickly integrated into the new police-paramedic-ambulance response protocol. KBHVAC now responds to over eight hundred emergency 911 calls a year – treating and transporting patients to the local hospitals and trauma centers. "The Katonah-Bedford Hills Volunteer Ambulance Corps is the primary provider of basic emergency medical services for Katonah, Bedford Hills, large sections of I-684 and the Saw Mill Parkway. The Corps also provides mutual-aid to the surrounding communities."
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