By Jessie Forand
BELMAR, N.J. — On Friday afternoon, the Belmar First Aid Squad’s 1938 Ford ambulance took its last ride.
The vehicle was loaded onto a truck, headed west to the Archives of the Ford Motor Company in Dearborn, Mich.
Steve Hines, who served on the Belmar First Aid Squad since 1975, told the Asbury Park Press, “Me and my brother stepped right into the first aid squad because it was something you did back then.”
Their father, like the ambulance, joined in 1938.
Since March, when the squad disbanded because of financial issues, the area has been served by the Division of Emergency Medical Services, part of the Department of Public Safety.
Since that time, the former squad’s members have been working to find a home for the historic rig.
“It’s basically part of Belmar’s history and its historic first aid squad because it was one of the original ones in the country,” said Spencer Heulit, president of Belmar’s Historical Society.
The dealership where it was purchased was able to help make the connection with Ford Motor Co.
And the rest is history.
“It shows our long history in the service industry,” said Greg Thompson, Ford’s east market area manager. “We made 100,000 ambulances for World War II and have been providing service vehicles to different communities – and around the world, for that matter – for almost 100 years.”
Editor’s note: An earlier version of the Ashbury Park Press story incorrectly said the ambulance would become part of the Ford museum. Instead, the ambulance will become part of the Archives of the Ford Motor Company.