Rescue Squad Looking for New Ambulance

The Westfield Rescue Squad is looking to replace one of their three ambulances in the coming months.

Squad captain Lynn Feldman said the squad routinely trades in ambulances every five to six years as a normal course of business. With the squad being a volunteer run enterprise, short of the taxpayer funding enjoyed by the police and fire departments, Feldman said it falls on the squad to look into fundraising options to put a new ambulance on the road.

Feldman said the cost of purchasing an ambulance is the biggest budget item faced by the organization. New ambulances roughly cost around $160,000. This is not counting the costs of stocking the ambulance.

She said the squad has several fundraising options on their plate for the cost. One of the main areas will be from the disposal of the old ambulance. Feldman said the squad will likely trade in or sell the old ambulance which she said will bring in a portion of the funds needed for the new ambulance. Squads around the country routinely look for well functioning used ambulances if they cannot afford a new rig.

"We maintain them well," Feldman said the squad's three ambulances. "Even if they are older they are in good condition."

The desire for a new ambulance is unrelated to the accident one of the ambulances had on July 24, which caused minor damage.

Feldman said the squad is currently looking into grant opportunities for the new ambulance. She said grants will have to hold at the present time since the deadline has passed for many.

She said a regular community fundraising campaingn, similar to the squad's annual fundraising program and letter campaign in the spring is a possibility. Feldman said the current plans are still being put together.

Feldman said the desire for the new ambulance is based on what she said squad members are hearing from the residents of Westfield.

"Westfield people expect us to have the state of the art equipment and we provide that," she said. "We have a high volume of calls. We have a lot of people driving our ambulances. We have an average of 2,400 calls a year."

Editor's Note: This is the fifth in a five part series on the Westfield Rescue Squad. All information was gathered during a day long reporting period on July 24, 2010.