Pittsford Volunteer Ambulance

Location

40 Tobey Road, Pittsford NY, 14534

Mailing Address

P.O. Box 122, Pittsford, NY 14534

Phones/FAX

Administration/Volunteering: 585 385-2401

Fax: 585 385-5894

Email Addresses

<info AT pittsfordambulance DOT org> - General Questions

<volunteer DOT pittsfordambulance DOT org> - Membership/Volunteer

Website

http://www.PittsfordAmbulance.org/

Pittsford Volunteer Ambulance (PVA) is a not-for-profit, volunteer ambulance corps located in the Town of Pittsford in the southeast region of Monroe County, New York. It carries out its operations and functions at 40 Tobey Road, the home base. PVA primarily provides emergency medical services to the citizens of the town, but also does so to surrounding towns (Henrietta, Brighton, East Rochester, Honeoye Falls/Mendon, and Perinton) through mutual aid agreements signed with neighboring ambulance corps as well, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The agency is proud that it is one of the few remaining all-volunteer ambulance agencies in the greater Rochester area; in fact, the base has been staffed continuously without a single lapse since its founding in 1971! This could have only been possible through the consistent unity that bonds all PVA members like a "second family."

SERVICES
Medics of PVA who respond to calls received from the 911 Dispatch Center in downtown Rochester requesting for an ambulance are all New York State Certified Emergency Medical Technicians. In addition to the primary certification to provide pre-hospital emergency medical care, members are annually required by the agency to fulfill 12 units worth of continuing education. This is to ensure that members continually refine their manual dexterity on skills necessitated by certain calls, build upon existing knowledge to achieve more advanced competency in unusual cases, and remain ever vigilant and aware of their work's importance in the frontline of emergency care. In fact, these continuing education opportunities, usually in the form of lectures to even live operations, actually mirror the often unexpected realities and difficulties associated with "on field" work.

Members who do not work on the ambulance and respond to calls still are a crucial asset to the work of PVA: they serve as dispatchers who are primarily responsible for receiving call information coming in from the 911 Dispatch Center and follow through the call in tracking down the ambulance as it progresses from one stage to the next. In addition, they essentially serve as the coordinators in communication between an ambulance that departs base to respond to a call and the 911 Dispatch Center. Dispatchers are actually the bloodline of the PVA because they have staffed the base since the agency's founding, and without their important role, PVA can not be considered as "in-service," not to mention that without their coordination, miscommunication can easily happen that can prove disastrous (of course, without an ambulance crew, the dispatcher would not be able to send out anyone to respond to a waiting call).

Aside from the most prevalent form of dispatching ambulances to respond to calls sent in from the 911 Dispatch Center, citizens may call into the base directly or physically drive into the base - a "walk in". People are encouraged, however, to call 911 in an emergency rather than phoning the base directly. While most of the work members do center around a "call," citizens are encouraged to come in or request for other types of services offered: blood pressure checks between 8:00am and 9:00pm, First Aid care for walk-in needs, Instruction in CPR, First Aid, and Automatic External Defibrillators (AED), Use of canes, crutches, wheel chairs, walkers from the equipment loan closet, Standby medical support for community events, and group tours of the base to any organization.

When responding to a call, the crew on board the ambulance is certified to provide Basic Life Support (BLS) as most members hold state certification as an EMT at the Basic level. If the circumstances surrounding a call necessitate or deemed helpful for Advanced Life Support (ALS), the agency works in conjunction with those of the Southeast Quadrant (SEQ) Mobile Critical Care Unit who hold the highest level of certification possible in emergency medical services, the paramedic. Some members of PVA are also ALS certified (EMT-CC or EMT-P) and when those members are medics on our ambulances, the ambulances become ALS ready. (Credit to PVA History page on PVA site)

HISTORY
The development of PVA started as a Kiwanis/Rotary Club project in 1970. A survey of the Pittsford community was conducted by The Girl Scouts to determine the interest in an ambulance service. Over 85% of the respondents were in favor of an ambulance service for the Pittsford community. After many volunteer hours and hard work, Pittsford Volunteer Ambulance, Inc. officially opened on September 11, 1971. In the full first year of operation, there were 65 members and one ambulance that responded to more than 400 calls. In 2005, PVA has 91 members and responds to an average of 1900 calls per year.

EQUIPMENT/OPERATIONS
A "crew" at PVA that's necessary for the full operational capacity of its work is defined as having dispatcher, driver, and a first medic. This is the most prevalent case. There may be occasions when it may have an additional set of ambulance crew - consisting of a first medic and a driver - that would enable the agency to respond to a second incoming call if the primary ambulance crew was already dispatched out to an earlier call. On the ambulance crew itself, it may have an additional medic, the "second medic" to assist with any help needed. At times, a crew will have members in training such as medic trainees or driver trainees who are obtaining field training experience.

The agency features two very modern "truck-style" ambulances specially made by Ford and certified for operations by the New York State Department of Health. The ambulances are equipped with state-of-the-art technology such as the recently acquired GPS navigation system and Stryker electronically-powered gurneys.
In addition, the agency also owns a 2003 Ford Explorer SUV specially designed for EMS work through which it acts as primarily the "Fly Car" first responding to calls when the ambulance would have to take an unexpectedly longer time to respond. The "Fly Car" also would respond to calls requiring more help, e.g. mass casualty incident (MCI), motor vehicle accidents in a pile-up, etc.

NATURE OF CALLS
PVA receives a smorgasbord of calls throughout its enriching 36-year history. Whatever the skills or acute, front-line medical care knowledge the call may demand for, the agency is proud that its ambulance crews are fully informed to execute and accomplish the work. Relating to background factors precipitating certain calls, the Town of Pittsford that PVA covers include two college campuses (St. John Fisher College and Nazareth College), a sizable population of the elderly who reside in several nursing homes or medical care facilities, fields for horse shows and other outdoor related events/sports, as well as a small portion of the interstate and Erie Canal flowing through. These all contribute in addition to the typical "suburbian" like factor that compose the nature of the calls. Of course, members continuously undergo training to handle extenuating calls, e.g. terrorism instigating a mass casualty incident.

PVA is fortunate to enjoy warm ties with the Pittsford Fire Department and may occasionally work in conjunction with firefighters from the two stations and with sheriffs from the Monroe County Sheriff's Office (MCSO). Brighton Fire Department's territory also overlaps with part of PVA's coverage area. Together, law enforcement, fire, and emergency medical services serve as a cooperative team to efficiently and effectively manage any call. PVA also has fostered close relations with the Town of Pittsford often contributing a vital voice for planning and management with the Town Council.

JOINING PVA!
The agency is always looking for an eager volunteer who can help in many ways to make a positive difference in the work it does. Volunteers are only asked to work a minimum of 12 hours per month in whatever role they're cleared to work in or training for. Of course, the agency would greatly welcome and appreciate those who can contribute even more. Volunteers automatically become "members" when their application has been accepted and usually begin the dispatch training program to train towards become dispatchers. After members become cleared dispatchers, they may choose to remain as dispatchers, or move on towards the medic training program that would clear them as second medics (to clear as a second medic requires certification as a Certified First Responder or EMT. Training for First Medic requires EMT certification, which does require the individual to be 18 years of age or older). The medic training program at PVA is very reputable for a comprehensive, productive learning experience that promises to challenge the prospective medic to become cross-function oriented, fully competent and able medics who can think beyond the usual dimensions surrounding a call. Prospective medics, termed "medic trainees," observe, work alongside, and eventually work independently under the supervision of the first medic. After medic trainees become cleared to serve as second medics, they may choose to either advance to the driver training or first medic training. Medic and driver trainees are taught from and observed by some of the finest, veteran medics in the area who bring in extremely insightful advices and wisdom stemming from over 10, 15, and even 20-year experiences in EMS.
Medic trainees are not only taught to excel in technical and informational competency, but also in medic-patient "humanistic" interaction that imparts the values of empathy, compassion, and service. The latter most distinguishably define PVA as one of the most rewarding ambulance corps in the area for medic training. Most of all, PVA is fortunate to win fond liking by the citizens it faithfully serves, often having its officers attend Town Council meetings and involved with many townwide efforts. PVA members come from a breadth of colorful educational and professional backgrounds, which has proven so vital in adding to the energy at the base. Several are award-winning EMS and other community service awards on various levels because they and all the other members strive hard to improve and improve upon set skills. Come join an empowering team of many members who share interesting backgrounds to together make a difference in someone's life, today!
For more information, kindly check out: Pittsford Volunteer Ambulance

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