By Stephen J. Pytak
Republican & Herald
POTTSVILLE, Pa. — The brand-new van ambulance that rolled into the headquarters of the local EMS unit Tuesday will be the first in its fleet to be labeled with the unit’s new name.
This year, the former Pottsville/Schuylkill Haven Area EMS will become “Schuylkill EMS,” said Patrick Moran, the education and community outreach coordinator for the community ambulance organization, which is officially known as Pottsville Area Emergency Medical Services Inc.
Every year or two, the organization buys a new ambulance to replace an older one. The 2014 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter outfitted by Demers Ambulances, Canada, was scheduled to come in this week. And that’s why it became the first to receive the new insignia, Moran said.
“Over the next three to six months, we’ll be transitioning all the rest of the trucks,” Moran said.
Founded in 1947 as The Lions Ambulance, Pottsville/Schuylkill Haven Area EMS was established in 2001. It’s grown over the years. On April 30, 2014, it merged with Orwigsburg Ambulance Inc., 500 E. Market St., Orwigsburg. And with a larger service area — it covers 17 municipalities in central and southern Schuylkill County primarily but responds to incidents in all 67 municipalities — the name change was necessary, Moran said.
This week, Moran talked about what’s ahead for Schuylkill EMS, while introducing the newer ambulances in its fleet.
In May, the organization had 50 full-time and 10 per diem employees and a fleet of 10 ambulances, a sport utility vehicle and two wheelchair vans. And it was planning to sell Orwigsburg Ambulance’s used wheelchair van.
“Since then, we’ve sold that,” Moran said.
This week, Schuylkill EMS had 50 full-time and 10 per diem employees and a fleet of 10 ambulances, a sport utility vehicle and three wheelchair vans, Moran said.
In recent years, the organization has been upgrading the fleet of ambulances by replacing “modular box-style” units with vans. It’s the first ambulance group in Schuylkill County to use these type of vans, and the unit started using them in 2011, according to Moran.
“The biggest thing that we need to do is make sure we’re staying with the safest and the most appropriate vehicles for our coverage area. We’ve found through the years that our modular ambulances had some difficulty sometimes going into some of the areas that we needed to go into. For example, places like Schuylkill Avenue and Pierce Street that have a very narrow clearance, you could get a car through it, but not something like our No. 5, which is a modular ambulance. And that box would have a hard time getting through there,” Moran said.
Modular ambulances are made by putting van boxes on top of truck chassis. Vans are single units, Moran said.
“Vans are factory constructed right from the get-go. I don’t know if mod ambulances are on their way out, but there’s a different time and place for them. The smaller Sprinter ambulance is a thinner vehicle with a thinner wheel base,” Moran said.
In the Schuylkill EMS fleet this week, there were six modular ambulances and four van ambulances, including the new one which rolled in Tuesday.
The 2014 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter will take the place of No. 11, a 2006 model modular box ambulance.
“Demers did the interior conversion,” Moran said.
The new vehicle is valued at $85,000. But it’s less expensive than a new modular ambulance, which would cost between $130,000 and $200,000, Moran said.
The new addition was taken to Gear Signs, Schuylkill Haven, where its white sides would be labeled.
“It might be in service anywhere from two weeks to a month. It depends on how quick they can get it in and do it,” Moran said as he unveiled the “Schuylkill EMS” crest on his computer screen.
Similar to the former Pottsville/Schuylkill Haven EMS symbol, it’s a blue and orange crest which looks a bit like a shield.
The name change was planned in April when Orwigsburg Ambulance Inc. became part of Pottsville/Schuylkill Haven Area EMS. Instead of calling the organization “Pottsville/Schuylkill Haven/Orwigsburg Area EMS,” the shorter name was preferred. On Dec. 23, Garry Laubach, the organization’s executive director, said the unit was still waiting for approvals from the Pennsylvania Department of Health. On Monday, Moran said all approvals were received.
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©2015 the Republican & Herald (Pottsville, Pa.)