Riverhead Volunteer Ambulance Corps answers more than 5,000 calls a year now — a number that keeps climbing as Riverhead grows and visitors pour into town each season. But ask the volunteers and officers what keeps them coming back, and they rarely talk about numbers.
They talk about people.
They talk about family.
And they talk about the moment chaos gives way to calm when an ambulance crew walks through the door.
National EMS Week begins Sunday, May 17, and Riverhead Volunteer Ambulance Corps will kick it off with its annual open house from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at its Osborn Avenue headquarters. The family-friendly event will feature Chinese auction prizes, a dunk tank, Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office K9s and traffic safety demonstrations, raffles and activities for children. Visitors will also have an opportunity to meet RVAC volunteers and learn about joining the organization.
For Assistant Chief A.J. Rado, 31, joining the corps changed the course of his life.
“This was actually not in my plans at all,” Rado said.
At the time, he was working at a car dealership and planned to move into management. Then his grandmother needed an ambulance.
“I just kind of saw what they did for her,” he said. “They were professional. They really did good for her. And I said, I want to do that.”
Today, Rado works full-time in EMS, holds additional per diem jobs, runs a CPR training company and volunteers as RVAC assistant chief. But what drives him, he said, has little to do with money.
“Just being able to help somebody out,” he said. “Even if it’s psychologically helping, just that gratitude … you go into what seems to be a chaotic situation, and they see you take over, and then it’s just a calmness to everybody.”
That sense of reassurance is something many Riverhead residents know firsthand.
Rado said volunteer EMS is often misunderstood by the public, who may not realize the amount of training and dedication involved.
“There is so much training that goes into it,” he said. “When you have that ambulance show up, no matter whether the person does it professionally as well or as a volunteer, there is so much training.”
Chief Jake Phillips, 32, said RVAC currently has about 100 volunteers and continues to receive applications every month.
“There’s a lot of people who join the ambulance as a volunteer … and they realize they have a passion for helping people,” Phillips said. “We help them with an EMT class, and sometimes they run with it from there, and they become paramedics and nurses and doctors.”
One of those newer members is 20-year-old Mitchell Cain, a Riverhead High School graduate who joined RVAC a little over a year ago and recently earned his EMT certification.
“I always had the thought in the back of my head, but I was always just a little nervous to actually make the move and join,” Cain said.
Now working as a medical assistant and planning a future career in healthcare, Cain said the corps has given him both experience and mentorship.
“Everyone has just been so helpful,” he said. “I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for them.”
What surprised him most, he said, was the camaraderie.
“It’s never like a dull night,” Cain said. “Everyone is just there for everyone.”
Phillips described the corps as “a second family.”
“People at RVAC have helped me with things in my personal life, and vice versa,” he said. “They become brothers and sisters more than just people I work with.”
That bond helps sustain members through increasingly demanding workloads.
RVAC responded to approximately 5,300 calls in 2025, according to the organization. Phillips and Rado both said the increase is noticeable.
“The town is obviously growing rapidly,” Phillips said. “More people are coming to Riverhead, tourist things and all the farms and everything — especially this time of year, we’re coming really into our busy season.”
Rado said the rise in call volume tracks with the town’s development and population growth.
“You see those numbers continuing to increase because the population of the town is continuing to grow,” he said.
The organization is also preparing for a major transition.
As previously reported by RiverheadLOCAL, RVAC is preparing to build a new headquarters to replace its aging Osborn Avenue facility. Board president Garret Lake said the corps has received bids for the project and expects movement soon once town bonding is finalized.
During construction, RVAC plans to temporarily operate from behind the Riverhead Armory, using converted bays and temporary trailers.
“We’re going in the right direction,” Phillips said. “It’s an exciting time.”
For EMS Week, however, the focus is less on buildings than on people.
For Phillips, the week is about recognizing the sacrifices volunteers make all year long.
“The members give so much to the community,” he said. “EMS Week is just an opportunity … to give back to them and try and do stuff for them.”
Rado hopes the open house also inspires others to consider joining.
“If you have any interest in medicine, come on down,” he said. “You never know where you’re going to end up going with it.”
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