Thursday, October 1, 2026
Sea Cliff Emergency Medical Services has been named EMS Agency of the Year by the Nassau County Regional Emergency Medical Services Council. This is the first time the department has received the award.
REMSCO was created in 1993 through an act of the New York State Legislature. The body coordinates EMS within Nassau County. Members include active EMS providers, hospital-based professionals, and those who hold other roles within EMS such as communications and disaster management.
The honor was first announced on May 6. Jim Ajamian, first lieutenant of Sea Cliff’s fire medic unit, is active with Nassau REMSCO and said he found out in advance.
“I knew a week before that we were getting it,” he said, “and had to keep it quiet for a week.”
The title “EMS Agency of the Year” is given to an agency that strives for consistency and excellence when providing prehospital emergency medical care. Ajamian said that Sea Cliff received the award because it sends an advanced life support provider to nearly every call and only receives mutual aid, assistance from other agencies, if it is managing multiple calls or the ambulance is out of service.
Being named EMS Agency of the Year by Nassau County REMSCO makes Sea Cliff eligible for the same title at the state level.
“For us,” Ajamian said, “it’s great.”
Ajamian said that Sea Cliff is one of few strictly volunteer agencies that entered the running for the title. He added that many agencies are hiring paid paramedics and emergency medical technicians to mitigate staffing shortages.
“We’re lucky,” Ajamian said, “that everybody that responds are all volunteer.”
Deputy Mayor Nick Pinto, the liaison to Sea Cliff Fire Department, said that getting volunteers has often been a challenge but that EMS is now “in good hands.” He added that the fire department drives through the village and puts up signs to recruit members and that he personally speaks with new village residents about joining.
There are incentives for residents to volunteer in the fire department, Ajamian explained. Reduced property taxes in the village and a Length of Service Award Program, similar to a retirement program, are among them.
Pinto praised Ajamian’s work as a provider, saying he is “a welcome face in any sort of adversity. He also praised Sea Cliff EMS overall.
“This award,” he said, “really is validation of the work that they do here.”
Sea Cliff is adding Dr. David Silver, a physician at Glen Cove Hospital that specializes in emergency medicine, as EMS medical director. Silver also serves as medical director at Bellmore-Merrick EMS and Glen Cove. The Sea Cliff Board of Trustees heard Silver’s proposal for his work in the role at its public conference meeting on May 4.
In his proposal, Silver outlined his plans to introduce new medications to Sea Cliff’s EMS and help providers improve their skills and patient care. Following his presentation, Mayor Elena Villafane described choosing Silver for the role as “a no-brainer.”
“The addition of this new medical director,” Pinto said, “is going to be a really big boost for the quality of service we’re able to provide for our residents.”
Ajamian said there are many good things happening for Sea Cliff EMS right now.
“We’re moving in the right direction,” he said. “With the addition of our new medical director, I definitely think it’s going to be a big positive and big plus for the fire department and for the residents of Sea Cliff.”
