Vac Buses

[CM36 4]

How many Bus should a Vac have and how many calls should a vac have to run to prove that they need two buses ?

I think that all Vac should have aleast two buses and that way if they need a second buse they have one.

[x635 4,066]

The number of buses a VAC has depends on many variables. How many calls do they run,distance to MA, how big is their district, etc.

I think if a VAC has one ambulance, that can be enough provided they have mutual aid within a reasonable distance willing to cover them if their vehicle goes down.

On one hand, for 1 ambulance corps (I believe in Westchester County, it's Pound Ridge, Ardsley, and Verplank) the amount of calls they run and the amount of membership they have, I doubt it would be very economical to purchase, run, maintain, house, fuel etc a second ambulance. Maybe a first responder vehicle, such as an old PD car would be more feasible way to respond quicker while having no amb and awaiting MA transport units while the primary ambulance is OOS or unavailable.

One the other hand, It would be a nice feature to have a back-up ambulance, even if it's a used Type II, but not critical. After all, look at some of the back-up apparatus FD's and PD's in this county are privledged to have. And , if that VAC gets into an MVA and they have to wait for a long period for a new bus, it's nice to have your own backup, but then again it's always possible to get a loaner ambulance. It would be nice if the county could maintain a "spare pool" of Fire and EMS apparatus for dept's, like other counties, but I seriously doubt that will ever happen and it's a whole nother topic.

And, most importantly, before any VAC or ambulance service considers purchasing a second ambulance,they need to be able to staff that one ambulance 24/7 first and foremost before a second vehicle is considered. After all, what goods a second ambulance if you can't staff it?

[BFD1054 1,552]

Nicely put x635! Some VAC's and FD run Ambulances have enough trouble getting one rig out, let alone 2. But as you said, for many reasons, it would be nice for every VAC to have at least 2 rigs. In my area, Buchanan, we are covered by Cortlandt EMS which runs 3 rigs and a first responder/supervisor vehicle. If Cortlandt gets tied up, they usually go to Peekskill EMS who also runs 3 rigs and a first responder/supervisor vehicle. If M/A is needed on the south end, they go to Croton FD EMS who runs 2 rigs. The other local EMS provider in this area is Verplanck FD EMS who only run 1 rig. For Verplanck, having 1 rig isn't soo bad because thier M/A providers, Cortlandt and Peekskill, both run 3 rigs each and usually don't have a problem getting out. It would be nice to have at least 2 rigs in case the 1st is tied up or 1 is out of service or whatever, but for some districts, having 2 rigs is not feasable, practical or economical. Peekskill used to run 4 rigs and i have seen them get all 4 out at once, but then they went to 3 in the mid/late 90's and having 3 works perfectly for them. Cortlandt used to have just 2 until 2002 when they went to 3. Cortlandt's district continues to grow residentially and with the addition of the NY State run nursing home on the Montrose VA Campus plus Springvale nursing and rehab center, the need for 3 rigs was obvious. Each VAC has a different size district to cover and taking that into consideration with the number of calls they're running should determine how many rigs they should run. Not to mention, you must be able to staff the rigs you have before trying to run more. I think all EMS agencies are getting busier and the need for EMS coverage continues to grow. For example, Cortlandt VAC ran a record-breaking 101 calls for the month of January! BFD1054