Pascack Historical Society

"Now that's an ambulance!"

For years the Township of Washington had been served by Westwood’s ambulance service, but in 1956—amid a postwar population boom—volunteers formed the Township of Washington Ambulance Corps.

The first ambulance was a used 1939 LaSalle, shown in the top photo along with an ambulance corps volunteer. The vintage ambulance wasn’t in use in the township for long though.

In 1958 the corps purchased a new Cadillac, shown in the bottom photo. Its first run was on March 31, 1958, when the corps took a 13-year-old to the Hackensack Hospital (this was a year before Pascack Valley Hospital opened in Westwood). The teen only had a minor injury and was home that night.