More E.M.T.s Are Needed

National E.M.S. Week, which began on Sunday and runs through Saturday, is a time to honor and say thank you to emergency medical service providers. The East Hampton Village Ambulance Association is using the occasion to put the call out for more volunteers to help it save lives and give back to the community.

The hope is to get more college students and bilingual people to join the association, which answers an average of 1,400 calls a year.

“We do not have a number of bilingual members, but we do have a large Spanish population,” said MaryEllen McGuire, who helped organize the association’s latest campaign to attract new members, adding that comforting patients is a large part of what the providers do during transport to the hospital. “Having an E.M.T. who can translate, as well as communicate with the patient, would make the whole experience for a non-English speaking patient so much less anxiety-ridden.”

Through a Suffolk County program called SERVES — Suffolk Educational Program for Retention in the Voluntary Emergency Service — volunteers can receive up to 100 percent tuition reimbursement at colleges in the county. East Hampton residents who attend schools such as Suffolk Community College and volunteer are eligible for the reimbursement based on their grades. A student making all “A”s could get full reimbursement, while a student bringing home “C”s would get 50 percent of his or her tuition back.

“The only catch,” Ms. McGuire said, “is that they have to give five years of service.” Four of those years can be while they are in school.

Other incentives include a home tax credit program and a small retirement system.

Those interested can contact the ambulance association at 631-324-6767 or [email protected].