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Five Quad Budget Increase Helps Expand Services Post-COVID

By Haydn Elmore | March 6, 2023



Five Quad Volunteer Ambulance logo

Photo Credit: MyInvolvement


A 17% increase in the budget following a reduction of service during the pandemic has helped Five Quad to expand services and the roster of students interested in joining the student-run ambulance and emergency medical assistance service.


“Five Quad never really stopped being Five Quad,” Nixon Mercado, president of Five Quad said. “We were still out there providing any form of needed medical care.”


According to the Student Association budget for the 2022-23 school year, Five Quad received a total funding of $243,500, up from the $208,100 it received during the 2021-22 school year


Mercado said the services only shut down during the beginning of the pandemic but they were sent down to areas like Nanuet, NY to help those in need after the initial stages of the pandemic.


Five Quad has seen around 100-150 applications received from students interested in being involved with the services, with an additional 20 they received post-COVID.


Mercado said a lot of the money in the budget goes to the different community outreach programs that can get students involved with the service. These include Capital Replacement, Community Outreach, and multiple training courses like CPR and a Civilian Response to Active Shooters Classes.


“We have been working with the University of Police Departments within those departments,” Mercado said. “They’re introducing the Stop the Bleed components into those courses, and that’s where Five Quad comes in to help out with any form of medical help that can come from those moments where something terrible does happen.”


Mercado also mentioned those who do get enrolled in the service will have to go through a semester-length of training, and they give the students a choice if they want to be part of the program or not.


Five Quad has been more involved in events around campus, including an EMS conference that’s happening on March 25 and 26 at ETEC. They will host seminars about topics such as dealing with mental health patients and how to provide the right medical needs for patients with different medical conditions.


While the service has seen a change in terms of the number of people wanting to be volunteers and how much money is being poured towards it, Five Quad’s main goal of being there for students in any form of emergency has always remained the same.


“On campus, Five Quad is always there to help students,” Mercado said. “We can provide any form of medical attention, as they are being transferred to hospitals like Albany Med, and making sure they are in better condition and are stabilized than they were before.”


Five Quad currently has 50 active members, answering over 800 calls for emergencies, and three ambulances in line for any form of medical need to be delivered to hospitals if the condition of a person is in.


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