Spencerport Volunteer Ambulance, Inc. (SVA) began in the late 1960s with a small volunteer staff of one dispatcher, one driver and one medic per shift. SVA's service to the community was 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. This 24/7 service continues today. Support from the community flourished. The Lions Club provided SVA with a building expansion and also supplied SVA with medical equipment that the community members could borrow. Jeff Tewksbury, Chief of Operations for SVA, recalled how times have changed for SVA. He described how in his early days with SVA, "The medic on board the ambulance was only required to be certified with advanced first aid. Now, many of our volunteers and staff are advanced life support certified. The SVA vehicles we now use are fully equipped for any emergency. We describe our buses as mobile ER (emergency) rooms," he said. Tewksbury has been an active volunteer with SVA since 1978. Over the years, SVA has not only seen a change in the level of care it provides but also in how emergency calls are handled and how patients are treated. Before the county emergency 911 call system was instituted, emergency calls came directly to SVA. The dispatcher on call at SVA was responsible for assessing the situation and notifying and directing the emergency personnel to the situation. Today, all emergency calls are routed through the 911 system where calls are accessed, evaluated and prioritized according the status of the emergency and what type of emergency response is necessary. Technology has also improved the manner in which calls are handled and also how SVA stays in contact with other ambulance organizations countywide. A grant that the City of Rochester received provides SVA with video equipment so SVA can keep in communication with the city and all other county wide agencies, including hospitals, in case of a large full scale emergency. Public television station WXXI provides the signal for this video system. While technology and training have improved the services SVA offers, this valuable resource faces a huge problem and is in need of help from the community. When SVA was formed 40 years ago, this organization had over 170 members. Today, SVA has only 48 members and only 20 are active participating volunteers. In the late 1960s, SVA responded to approximately 150-200 calls per year. In the 1970s, the numbers of emergency calls per year jumped to approximately 300-500 per year. This past year, SVA responded to over 1,400 emergency calls, a record number of calls for the group. Tewksbury described this record number of calls as, "an indication of growth in the community and how the community realizes the signs and symptoms of an emergency," he explained. SVA currently serves over 23,000 people encompassing the village of Spencerport, most of the town of the Ogden and part of the town of Parma. Of all emergencies that SVA faces, the most important is the group's desperate need of volunteers. Because of the volume of calls to which SVA responds, some shifts require two crews to be on staff. In order to meet the needs of the community, SVA has been forced to hire staff members. Currently, one full time and 19 other part-time employees fill-in the shifts that volunteers can not work, mainly during the daytime. This payroll as well as equipment needs puts a strain on SVA's annual budget. "Payroll makes up 80 percent of our budget. If we had more volunteers we could reduce our payroll costs. We need new blood in our organization. This volunteer situation is going to be a big problem for us when we look five to 10 years down the road when our current volunteers can't help us," Tewksbury said. "We are going to need to replace an ambulance in about three years and the cost for this vehicle is over $105,000," he said. Glenn Granger has volunteered for SVA for 16 years. He also has seen many changes with this organization. "When I started with SVA, we had over 130 volunteers. Now we have only 20 and because we are obligated to the community, we now have paid staff to fill-in our shifts," Granger said. He described his SVA experiences as rewarding and encourages anyone to join SVA. "We have great people here and it gives me great satisfaction to volunteer at SVA and to give back to my community," said Granger. SVA's annual fundraising campaign kicked off in March. Letters were mailed to community residents within the area SVA services. The goal of this campaign is to raise enough funds to replace radio communications equipment. While the goal of this campaign is financial, SVA is also looking to recruit new members. SVA will host an Open House on Saturday, May 21 at its headquarters located at 116 Lyell Avenue in the village of Spencerport. All community residents are invited to attend this event to learn more about the services SVA provides to the community. SVA is a 501 3c non-profit organization and all donations are tax deductible. Other donations of in-kind gifts such as services like accounting, public relations, grant writing, vehicle maintenance and administrative work are also gratefully accepted. Contact Jeff Tewksbury at 585-352-4742 with any questions or visit the SVA website at www.spencerportambulance.org. May 14, 2006 |
