From 1935 to 1956, the Sea Isle City Rotary Club provided ambulance service to the residents and visitors of Sea Isle City. On September 4, 1956, this organization was formally incorporated to become the Sea Isle Volunteer Ambulance Corps. Founders William Haffert and Dr. Francis Hauck, joined by Howard J. Wright, the first chief of the ambulance corps, each personally signed the $6,000 loan to allow the new organization and its twelve members to purchase its first ambulance.

Women members were not permitted to respond on emergency calls at the squad's inception. Dorothy "Dottie" Fean, who had wanted to be a nurse since childhood, served as the squad from its formation as treasurer and secretary. In 1959, however, the squad realized it needed Dottie to fulfill its mission. At that time, a federal law prohibited a male to transport an unrelated female across state lines. When the Ambulance Corps was called upon to transport a sick female patient to a Pennsylvania hospital, Dottie was thrust into patient care. Dottie has been an active member providing care to the sick and injured in the back of a Sea Isle Ambulance ever since.

Sea Isle Ambulance has grown since its meager beginnings. From twelve members and one ambulance in 1956, Sea Isle Ambulance now boasts thirty (30) active members, plus twelve (12) associate members, to man its three ambulances (A1007, A1008, and A1009) and first responder vehicle (Rescue 1). Almost all of the squads members are certified by the State of New Jersey as emergency medical technicians, trained to provide basic life support in a pre-hospital setting. In turn, almost all of these EMT's are certified to operate a semi-automatic external defibrillator (SAED), a device designed to "jump start" the heart of patients in cardiac arrest. Many members are certified CPR and first aid instructors, routinely teaching these life-saving skills to the Sea Isle City Beach Patrol lifeguards, firemen in Sea Isle and Strathmere, the Sea Isle Police Department, and any interested person in the community.

In an average year, the men and women volunteers of the squad respond to over 750 calls for assistance, twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. The vast majority of these calls come in the weeks between Memorial Day and Labor Day, when summer visitors flock to Sea Isles miles of pristine beach.

Sea Isle Ambulance is proud of the dedicated members who give generously of their time to learn the skills that can save lives.

Sea Isle Ambulance Corps' service area presently covers the portion of Ludlam's Island that includes Sea Isle City and Townsend's Inlet.

For more information, or to join Sea Isle Ambulance Corps, call the squad at (609) 263-8686, or email the squad at siac.ems@verizon.net