BRAVO Volunteer Ambulance
BRAVO Volunteer Ambulance provides ambulance coverage and emergency medical services to the neighborhoods of Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights in Brooklyn, New York. Not only is BRAVO an all volunteer organization, its services are entirely free. They neither bill nor accept any funds from their patient's insurance carrier. BRAVO is entirely supported by donations.
The organization was established in 1974. At the time, ambulance response times in Bay Ridge were very poor. Waiting an hour for a city or hospital-based ambulance was not uncommon. BRAVO can respond anywhere in the neighborhoods it serves within minutes. Though city and hospital ambulance response times have since improved, many neighborhood residents prefer to use BRAVO's services.
BRAVO is named after the movie Rio Bravo. After the organization was named, some thought that the name could stand for Bay Ridge Ambulance Volunteer Organization. (It is a backronym.)