Our Building
Our New Headquarters
When it was formed in 1962, the Squad operated out of a local garage, and the need for a dedicated facility was plain. When the Squad’s first building was constructed in 1964, Squad members raised all of the funds, and did much of the construction work themselves.
At the time, the building was considered “state of the art,” but 50 years of progress in EMS services as well as 50 years of wear and tear made it evident that a new facility was necessary. The original facility lacked sleeping quarters, adequate decontamination facilities, and storage space. In addition, modern ambulances could not fit into its 11 foot tall garage bays without substantial modification.
In 2012, corresponding with the Squad’s 50th anniversary, the membership voted to begin the first Capital Campaign in the Squad’s history to raise money for a new builidng. Two years later, thanks to the generosity of the Summit community, we raised the funds to build our new home. Our Buy-a-Brick campaign will help us put the finishing touches on this new headquarters that is expecetd to serve our community for many years to come.
The Squad moved into temporary headquarters that was generously provided by Salerno-Duane, a Summit car dealership, and ground was broken for the new building in June, 2014. Just over a year later, on July 4, 2015, our newly constructed facility was dedicated. Interestingly, the temporay headquarters was only about 30 feet from where the orignal garage used by the squad;s first ambulance once stood.
The new headquarters features room for up to 6 EMS vehicles, dedicated sleeping quarters, code compliant decontamination and storage areas, and a state of the art meeting and classroom facility that has already been used by more than 20 Summit organizations for meetings and classes. The new HQ has since been approved by the State Department of Health as an EMT traning facility.
Ongoing Support
The Summit Volunteer First Aid Squad receives no tax dollars from the City of Summit and does not bill for ambulance service. We raise all of our operating and capital funds through our annual fund drive and capital campaign.
Our new building provides our volunteers with the resources to provide the very best in emergency medical care to our neighbors, but our need for ongoing funding remains critical. Our annual budget includes the cost of all of the medical supplies that we use, maintenance of our ambulances, and ongoing operations of the building. In addition, we must replace the ambulances on a regular rotating basis. A new ambulance costs more than $190,000.
In order to meet these expenses, and still provide free care to the residents of Summit we must raise about $300,000 each year. Your generous donation to our annual fund or our Buy-a-Brick campaign will help us to provide these essential services for many years to come.