H. Mickey McCabe, the founder of the Bayonne-based ambulance service that carries his name, died at 76 years old yesterday.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“Through Mickey’s leadership, McCabe Ambulance not only served the residents of Bayonne, but was also a leader in the Emergency Medical Field throughout the region,” Mayor Jimmy Davis wrote on Facebook.
“They are an integral part of the Emergency Management field in Hudson County, and they have responded to every major event in our area over the last several decades, including both World Trade Center attacks, Secaucus and Hoboken Train Derailments, US Airways Flight 1549, and many others. Mickey was also a member of many boards and organizations within our city, as he was always committed to making Bayonne a better place.”
The New Jersey EMS Task Force, in their own Facebook post, indicated that McCabe “passed away peacefully surrounded by family and friends at Monmouth Medical Center.”
McCabe Ambulance Services was launched in 1973 and is also the former chair of the Governor’s EMS Council, a former member of the NJ EMS Legislation Council, and a past president of the Medical Transportation Association of New Jersey.
He received a bilateral lung transplant in 2016, likely the result of responding to the World Trade Center on September 11th, 2001 and continued to provide aid in the subsequent days.
“Mickey touched many lives and left an indelible impact on the emergency medical services field in New Jersey and beyond. He was a vocal supporter of EMS wherever he went. And he punctuated every conversation with a joke and a smile,” added NJ EMS Task Force Chair Michael J. Bascom.
McCabe’s company assisted in events throughout the region, ranging from 2009’s “Miracle on the Hudson” in Weehawken and Super Bowl XLVIII at MetLife Stadium in 2014.
According to their website, McCabe Ambulance Services answers more than 25,000 calls per year, including 9-1-1 for the City of Bayonne, backup 9-1-1 for the City of Hoboken, 9-1-1 call screening for both municipalities, mutual aid for neighboring communities in Hudson County, and emergency response to the New Jersey Turnpike and Bayonne Bridge.
Furthermore, the McCabe Communications Center is accredited by the State of NJ as a Public Safety Dispatch Point and coordinates all responses.
McCabe also received the Lifetime Achievement Award for his decades of service in 2010.
He is survived by his wife Judy, his son Michael, an NJ EMS Task Force leader, daughter Allison, and six grandchildren.
