By Bill Carey
EMS1
BAYONNE, N.J. — The founder of McCabe Ambulance, Mickey McCabe, who began an ambulance service in Bayonne, New Jersey in 1973 and was a co-founder of the New Jersey Emergency Medical Services Task Force after the 9/11 terror attacks, died on June 19 at the age of 76.
McCabe suffered from interstitial lung disease with pulmonary fibrosis due to the dust he inhaled at the World Trade Center and in 2016 he underwent double-lung replacement, the Jersey Journal reported.
“Mickey gave his life to this work, and this work took his life,” Michael Bascom, state leader/chairman of the New Jersey Emergency Medical Services Task Force, said in a Facebook post.
“When you became a police officer, that’s when you first met Mickey because he handed you your bulletproof vest,” Bayonne mayor, and retired police captain, Jimmy Davis said. “He used to run a bulletproof vest fund for the Bayonne Police Department. He would raise money every year and he would purchase the vests for the police officers.”
When the city took over funding of the body armor McCabe raised money to put an AED in every police vehicle and schools.
“The city of Bayonne and the state of New Jersey lost a true legend in Mickey McCabe,” U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez said in a statement to the Jersey Journal. “Few people could match the grit and fight that Mickey had — always advancing the cause of emergency response and preparedness and ensuring that those who answer the call have the support and resources they need.”