Who are we ? We are the former ambulance services : Swissvale EMS, Turtle Creek Rescue #2, Wilkinsburg EMS and Wilmerding EMS.
Why are you now called Eastern Area Prehospital Service? We came up with a name that encompasses our service area – the Eastern Area of Allegheny County. And that an ambulance today and in the future will continue to be much more than an Emergency Medical Service.
Why did all of the services you mentioned consolidate? With the increased training levels and continuing education mandated by the State government volunteers were hard to come by. Many of the services were forced to staff with paid personnel as the volunteers no longer had the time to work two jobs, respond to calls and keep there training at the level imposed by the state and at a level every citizens deserves to have respond to their emergency. With Insurance re-imbursement costs continually declining and increasingly new and better technology evolving newer and better equipment and the maintenance and eventual replacement of ambulances, the service were unable to do it on their own. Thus the idea of Eastern Area Prehospital Service was born. Consolidating our recourses to ensure quality emergency care to the residents of our communities.
Are you still my community ambulance? Yes, even though we have all consolidated we are very much the same ambulance service that served your community.
What benefit did this consolidation bring to me as a resident of a community that you serve? Well, there are many benefits. Today we have crews stationed in our ambulance bases. They are available 24 hours a day 7 days a week 365 days a year. There is an instantaneous response to your emergency. We do no loose time waiting where we formerly responded to an emergency call from our homes. The ambulance crews are professionals, who do this all the time. Our training level meet and exceed the requirements of the PA Dept. of Health. With the consolidation of the ambulance services we have more vehicle and more crews available to respond to your emergency then we did when we were single emergency medical services.
What if the ambulances from one station are out and I need an ambulance, isn’t it far for an ambulance to come from the other station? Yes and no, with the 4.5 miles between our stations when one of the ambulance stations are out of vehicles, we stage (or move) an ambulance from one station mid way between both station so they can easily respond to a call wherever they are needed. This enables to double and triple the number of ambulances available before the consolidation.
Do you offer any training classes for the residents of your communities? Yes we offer CPR training, First aid classes, and additionally we are available to speak at any community event, we provide ambulances for stand bys at community and school district events in the communities we serve. We also provide flu shots clinics to the resident so the communities we serve. We also offer tours of the ambulances and ambulance stations for you or your group we also have a ride along program for anyone considering going into the Prehospital field of health care. And yes. We do have many residents of our communities that still volunteer with us. And we are always looking for more should you be interested.
What type of organization is Eastern Area Prehospital Service? We are a non profit 501c-4 organization.
How are you financially supported? We rely solely on third party billing, donations and our annual subscription drive for our income.
How can I financially help support Eastern Area Prehospital Service? With the events of 2001 we all know how important emergency services can be should we need them. ON a smaller scale every day many of you have medical emergencies where you call us and we respond to your calls for help and we are there. You can help us by filling out the enclosed subscription drive card and returning it with your subscription fee. If you are financially able to additional donations are always welcome and needed.