The Gates Volunteer Ambulance Service (GVAS) turned 60 years old on Friday, February 23, 2024. A lot has happened in the last 60 years since ambulance service was started in the Town of Gates.
The need for an ambulance service in the Gates heightened in the late 1950s and early 1960s during the town’s transition from a rural, agriculture area into a suburban community. Preceding the founding of the Gates Volunteer Ambulance Service (GVAS) on February 23, 1964, ambulance transportation in Gates was provided by hospitals (the St. Mary’s Hospital Ambulance, for example) or from commercial ambulance firms. The response times and the expense were the often-voiced reasons for establishing an ambulance service for the town.
The first public word of the proposed town ambulance service came September 12, 1963 when a group of Gates physicians endorsed the proposal of Dr. J. Walter Knapp. Dr. Edwin J. Boerschlein, Dr. Jack L. Connelly, Dr. James W. Carlin, and Dr. John E. Montione agreed “that the Town of Gates represents an area of population concentration which was in need of an ambulance service for its residents.” The Gates-Chili News reported that the physicians hailed the proposal as a step in the direction of better health and safety for town residents.
Gates Volunteer Ambulance Service (GVAS) was officially founded in 1964 to serve the emergency needs of the residents of the Town of Gates. In March of 2014, GVAS and Spencerport Ambulance merged to become one larger agency. To date, GVAS has grown to over 100 volunteer and career members with a fleet of 12 vehicles and 1 UTV housed out of 3 stations. GVAS now covers a district of over 52 square miles with its headquarters located at 1001 Elmgrove Road.
GVAS responded to over 9,900 calls for service in 2023, with most of the responses requiring Advanced Life Support. In addition to the calls for service, GVAS also hosts weekly blood pressure checks, monthly CPR, AED, and Stop the Bleed training, and other advanced classes for healthcare providers.
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