Above: Our first ambulance. (Circa 1987).
Lower Alsace Ambulance Association was founded in 1987 after the Lower Alsace Fire Company turned the ambulance over to Titus Wentzel, who is now our Director Emeritus and our most senior active member. Titus then worked to incorporate the Association and lay the groundwork that would eventually lead up to where we are at today. Today, we are a non-profit BLS ambulance service. BLS stands for “Basic Life Support” which basically means we do not staff any paramedics. If we need to respond to a call that would require paramedics, Exeter Ambulance is dispatched because they are an ALS (Advanced Life Support) squad and they staff paramedics. This is why sometimes you may see an Exeter Ambulance following us down the road or parked behind us at a scene.
Our staff provides emergency medical services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to the residents of Mount Penn Borough, Lower Alsace Township, and some parts of Alsace Township. We work very closely with the other emergency services in the area such as the Central Berks Regional Police Department, Mount Penn Fire Company, Lower Alsace Fire Company, and Alsace Manor Fire Company.
We are licensed by the Pennsylvania Department of Health. Both of our ambulances and the service itself have met rigorous standards in order to qualify for this licensure. All of our crew members are trained to the minimum of Emergency Medical Technician, with some of our members holding higher certifications. All of our crew members are also CPR and AED certified.
Our staff currently consists of: 9 members on the executive board, 10 active primary crew members, and 3 active non-primary crew members, totaling 22 current active members in our organization. Among those 22 active members, we have 4 paid personnel, 1 paid EMT, 1 paid Business Manager, 1 paid Station Manager, and 1 paid Scheduling Coordinator. The rest of our staff consists of volunteers.
The executive board is responsible for overseeing the daily operations and activities of the Association. We hold elections every two years for each officer position on the board. The officer’s on the current board started their term January 1, 2008 and retain their position until December 31, 2009.
Some of you may wonder how many calls we handle. Well, to answer that question, in 2007 the squad responded to 804 calls, which averages out to about 2.2 calls per day. Now, not all of those calls come from our primary coverage area. We also handle calls for neighboring ambulance squads such as Exeter Ambulance, Oley Ambulance, Southern Berks Ambulance, etc. when they are busy on other calls.
If you have any questions about our association, do not hesitate to contact one of our board members via their e-mail link on the "Squad Roster" page or you may call our station at 610-779-0190.
