Harpur’s Ferry dedicates newest ambulance to a founding member

When the emergency call, an ankle injury, was dispatched on the Binghamton University campus, Harpur’s Ferry Student Volunteer Ambulance Service sent its newest ambulance to the scene.

It was during the summer of 2026, and Yoav Reshef, chief and executive director of Harpur’s Ferry, was aboard for that ambulance’s inaugural emergency call. As Reshef, a senior majoring in biology and business administration, described it: “The call came in. We responded, took the patient to the hospital, and went back into service.”

This is the spirit that has guided Harpur’s Ferry for 53 years: providing free, advanced medical assistance to the University campus and the surrounding community, regardless of the level of response needed. On Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026, Harpur’s Ferry honored the organization’s history of service by dedicating their new ambulance, No. 7622, to Sal Caruana ’73, one of its founding members.

“Sal wasn’t just a co-founder; he never really left. A lot of people in Harpur's Ferry graduate, move on, and do great things. But Sal has been a consistent presence for more than 50 years,” said Reshef. “He led the drive to start the Harpur's Ferry Endowment, which has truly given us the financial freedom and ability for this agency to exist in perpetuity. That’s why it’s important for us to recognize all the people who came before us and helped to make this possible.”

Caruana said he and fellow co-founders Adam Bernstein '73 and Jon Weston '73 had no idea whether Harpur’s Ferry would last after they graduated. Having the new ambulance dedicated in his name, Caruana said, is the honor of a lifetime. 

“The success is hardly mine alone; it belongs to every student and volunteer who has served. Lives have been saved. Careers have been born in medicine, nursing, and healthcare. Student leaders have been trained as first responders and in operational, administrative, and executive capacities,” Caruana said. “I sincerely believe Harpur’s Ferry is one of the most impressive and successful organizations within our University community. There is a large and successful infrastructure in place that will serve the University and the surrounding community for decades to come.”

What’s in the new Harpur’s Ferry ambulance?

The newest Harpur's Ferry ambulance, similar to its two companion vehicles, carries an array of advanced life support equipment, allowing medics to provide sophisticated care in the field across a range of scenarios akin to a hospital’s emergency department. 

One of the new ambulance’s key features is an occupant protection system, which uses an airbag that wraps around the seated crew member during a rollover or crash and also allows crew members to stand and remain seat-belted while reaching a patient on the stretcher. It also contains cardiac monitors and a device that can provide automated CPR.

How did Harpur’s Ferry get started?

With such cutting-edge equipment available now, Harpur’s Ferry comes from comparatively humble beginnings. It sprang from a need to more effectively address the student drug overdose crisis, specifically with LSD, that had been gripping the Binghamton campus and many others nationwide during the early 1970s, Caruana said. 

The team’s first “ambulance” was a Cadillac hearse purchased from a funeral home in Johnson City for $125 with 150,000 miles. It lasted less than a month, Caruana recalled. After raising an additional $2,500, a 10-year-old New York City Fire Department ambulance was secured in the spring of 1973 and put into service on campus. 

Today, Harpur’s Ferry is a student-run 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with a 90-member team, three advanced life support ambulances, and two flycars that respond to about 1,500 emergency calls each year.

“We're all volunteers, and we're here to help you,” Reshef said. “So if you're not sure if something feels wrong, just call, no matter what time it is. We would much rather come and help before it's too late.”