Papal Nuncio to the U.N. Blesses Paramedics and Ambulance Serving in the Papal Motorcade
05/08/2008
Contact: Mary Mooney
212.604.2675
New York, NY, April 4, 2008 - Archbishop Celestino Migliore, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, visited St. Vincent's Hospital Manhattan today along with His Excellency Nicolas DiMarzio, Bishop of the Diocese of Brooklyn and one of the Sponsors of Saint Vincent Catholic Medical Centers, to perform a blessing on the ambulance and paramedic crew that will serve in the motorcade of Pope Benedict XVI. The St. Vincent's ambulance is the only ambulance to serve in the motorcade at the request of the Office of the Papal Visit.
'St. Vincent's is honored to offer the service of our ambulance and paramedics to the Pope during his visit, and grateful that Archbishop Migliore and Bishop DiMarzio extended a blessing on those who will be traveling with the Holy Father,' said Henry Amoroso, President and CEO of Saint Vincent Catholic Medical Centers.
The ambulance and paramedics chosen for duty will accompany the Pope in his motorcade during his three-day tour of New York City. The Pope will travel with his personal physician and the White House physician, and the ambulance crew will provide emergency medical care and transport if necessary. Paramedics chosen to serve in the papal motorcade must undergo a day of special training provided by the New York Police Department and the Fire Department of New York.
The ambulance that will be used for the Papal visit was contributed to St. Vincent's by the American Foundation of Savoy Orders. The Foundation is a non-profit organization whose philanthropic work in North America and around the world is generously supported by the members and friends of the American Delegation of Savoy Orders. The Savoy Foundation undertakes humanitarian, hospitaller and charitable projects and initiatives across North America and abroad, particularly in healthcare, disaster relief and educational program. The ambulance bears the triple insignia of the Savoy Royal Arms, and the crosses of the Orders of Saints Maurice and Lazarus and the Order of Merit of Savoy.
St. Vincent's Hospital Manhattan has a long, rich tradition of emergency care, being the first to use a motorized ambulance in 1900 and introducing the country's first Mobile Coronary Care Unit in 1969. The vehicle serving in the Papal motorcade is one of four new ambulances recently added to the St. Vincent's fleet and the papal motorcade will be its first tour of duty.
About Saint Vincent's
Saint Vincent Catholic Medical Centers (Saint Vincent's) is anchored by St. Vincent's Hospital Manhattan, an academic medical center located in Greenwich Village and the only emergency room on the Westside of Manhattan from Midtown to Tribeca, St. Vincent's Westchester, a behavioral health hospital in Westchester County, and continuing care services that include two skilled nursing facilities in Brooklyn, another on Staten Island, a hospice, and a home health agency serving the Metropolitan New York area. Its behavioral health services also provide supportive housing programs for people with mental illness throughout the Metropolitan area. Saint Vincent's is the designated provider for the New York and New Jersey region of the US Family Health Plan sponsored by the US Department of Defense.
Saint Vincent's serves as the academic medical center of New York Medical College in New York City. The healthcare organization is sponsored by the Roman Catholic Bishop of Brooklyn and the president of the Sisters of Charity of New York.
