Volunteer fire company ambulance in Susquehanna County getting EMS system upgrades

Added: 2026-05-28

[00:00:00]In an emergency, a few minutes or even seconds can mean the difference between life or death. Now, Clifford Township Volunteer Fire Company Ambulance can provide services they couldn't before with its upgraded EMS license to intermediate advanced life support when every second counts.

[00:00:17]>> Sometimes out in rural Susquehanna County, we're waiting 15, 20, 25 minutes for an ambulance to come. Now, we can cut that town that time down in half.

[00:00:26]>> Like in a stroke, you need to get to the hospital as quickly as possible.

[00:00:29]Cardiac, same thing. You need to get get to that care that you are needing in a timely manner and that's what this service is going to provide.

[00:00:37]>> Time is brain. So, when we have our stroke patients, the first thing that we're more concerned about is time. The quicker we get there, the quicker we can get them to the hospital, the quicker their recovery's response could be.

[00:00:48]>> Including the advanced training and skills current Clifford Township Ambulance EMTs receive under this new license, they also get new equipment to begin life-saving procedures before a paramedic arrives.

[00:01:00]>> This is a my a cardiac monitor. So, this will defibrillate somebody in a cardiac arrest. It can pace, it can synchronize cardiovert. We can um do 12-lead EKGs. Clifford Township EMTs say as volunteers and workers in emergency medical services continue to decline, this new upgrade is needed now more than ever.

[00:01:23]>> We don't have a lot of paramedics in the area anymore. Um so, when they are needed, sometimes they're on a different call and we don't have have them readily available. So, we want to provide the highest level of care we possibly can to our community.

[00:01:37]Clifford EMS partner Greenfield EMS is working to upgrade its EMS license to provide the same services. Valeria Quinones, NewsWatch 16, Susquehanna County.