Delaware Township Volunteer Ambulance Corps

Delaware Township Volunteer Ambulance Corps (DTVAC) provides emergency medical services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Funding for these services comes from three main sources: patient billing, municipal contributions, and fundraising including our subscription program. DTVAC is the primary emergency medical responder for Delaware Township in Pike County, Pennsylvania. The Delaware Township Municipal Government provides our organization with a subsidy that helps offset our agency’s ‘cost of readiness' and help fill in the financial gap created by low insurance reimbursements. Delaware Township receives reimbursement from the County of Pike for half of the monies they distribute to our organization. 

By default, not design, we provide primary 911 paramedic (ALS) services to Blooming Grove Township (portions of), Dingman Township, Milford Borough, Milford Township, Shohola Township (portions of), and Westfall Township (portions of) as these municipalities have decided to not provide EMS at the advanced life support to their residents. We do not receive any funding, either monetary or in-kind, from those municipalities. 

On an as-needed-basis, DTVAC receives BLS mutual aid from the Dingman Township Volunteer Fire Department and ALS mutual aid from Lehman-Pike Emergency Medical Services and we thank both agencies for their support. 

Advanced Life Support

Advanced Life Support (ALS) is generally provided by paramedics, but can be provided by pre-hospital registered nurses, physician extenders (physician assistants), and pre-hospital physicians. Unlike BLS units, ALS units are staffed with at least one ALS provider, and when transporting a patient, a minimum of one ALS provider and one BLS provider. ALS personnel can obtain IV (intravenous) or intraosseous (bone) access to a patient to administer medications and perform ECG monitoring, cardiac pacing, and manual defibrillation. ALS personnel can perform advanced airway management procedures, including cricothyrotomy and endotracheal intubation. ALS ambulances are also known as MICUs (Mobile Intensive Care Units). Training for a paramedic is usually 1,800 - 2,400 hours, excluding prerequisites. Paramedic programs are generally held at institutions of higher learning such as a college. Many paramedic programs are tied to an associate's degree. Paramedics are required to successfully complete a state-sponsored psychomotor and cognitive examination. The National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians requires that EMTs complete 60 hours of continuing education every two years to maintain their certification. A paramedic’s skills/performance must be annually verified by an agency’s medical director a minimum of once per year. The local paramedic formulary includes the administration of approximately 40 different individual medications. Paramedics can perform advanced airway management, including endotracheal intubation, and surgical airways. They can obtain Intravenous and intraosseous (through bone) access for medication administration and interpret ECGs/EKGs (electrocardiograms), including 12-lead ECGs, and treat the patient accordingly. 

Basic Life Support

Basic Life Support (BLS): is provided by an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) who can provide basic patient assessment, vital sign monitoring, first aid including splinting and bleeding control, CPR including use of a bag-valve mask and AED, and administration of select medications including oxygen, glucose, naloxone and epinephrine auto-injectors. Generally, BLS providers provide patients with non-invasive procedures/treatments. Training for an EMT program is anywhere between 150-200 hours. EMTs are required to successfully complete a state-sponsored psychomotor and cognitive examination. The National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians requires that EMTs complete 40 hours of continuing education every two years to maintain their certification.