In front of Brooklyn Hospital, an ambulance prepares for a trip. There’s been no snow for over a week, so they should make good time. The driver’s ready, and the doctor arrives, ready to climb aboard.
Most cities at the time had to use off-duty funeral carriages, but this hospital had its own dedicated ambulances. If the doctor sat up in front with the driver, there was even space in the enclosed back portion for a patient to recline on a padded seat. Even though there was no way to treat a patient en route, this represented the cutting edge of medical care at the turn of the 20th century.
My grandmother was Head Operating Room Nurse at BH, and my grandfather did his medical internship there. He took this picture. We donated the photos to Brooklyn Hospital Foundation. Read more about this family in The Girl Who Talked Too Much.
Ann Dickinson Sargent 