Vernon to buy new ambulance for Glenwood Pochuck Ambulance Corps

The Vernon Township Council on Nov. 23 unanimously approved the purchase of a new ambulance for the Glenwood Pochuck Ambulance Corps for $194,542 from First Priority Vehicles through the Houston Galveston Area Cooperative

Councilman John Auberger abstained from voting.

Township Business Administrator Charles Voelker said the ambulance corps will be transferring radios and any tools they have from the current ambulance. The price also included a power load Striker power stretcher, he said.

“That’s an addition that’s not actually part of the ambulance,” Voelker said “It’s considered part of the purchase price. We could have purchased it for less, but since this is a new ambulance, and this is something that’s important for volunteer crews, particularly in Vernon — where we have some properties that are real struggles for our volunteers to get patients from the location to the dwelling — this would be a tremendous advantage.”

Mayor Howard Burrell called the additional stretcher acquisition a smart move.

“We don’t want to have to only select individuals who have the muscle,” he said. “This allows us to use the intelligence and skills of anyone who would volunteer.”

Kevin Duffy, the chief operations officer of the Glenwood-Pochuck Volunteer Ambulance Corps, thanked the council for approving the ambulance.

He said the organization has logged over 25,000 volunteer hours.

“This will greatly assist us in our mission to providing professional, compassionate community care and providing service with a community focus,” Duffy said.