Nazareth Regional Ambulance Corps held an open house on Saturday, May 20 that brought the Nazareth first responders out to help educate the community with some family fun.
EMS Supervisor Jacquelyn Kalynych set everything up for the open house, which included coloring and a dalmatian fire pup bounce house for the kids, CPR instruction, blood pressure checks, cornhole, goodies such as lanyards, key chains, bracelets, and pencils, and even hot dogs and hamburgers for everyone who came out.
This is Nazareth Regional Ambulance Corps’ first year holding an open house for the community after going live Oct. 1, 2022. Prior to that, they were Nazareth Ambulance.
Kalynych shared that this time last year, Nazareth Ambulance was struggling and had to obtain coverage from other communities. The ambulance service only had two employees at the time and one truck, which almost caused it to close.
Now that they’ve turned things around, Nazareth Regional Ambulance Corps (NRAC) has 30 employees on their roster, with two to three trucks up and running a day.
“We’re very family oriented. We try to do different activities with our crews. We’re taking them out to dinner next week for an EMS dinner for EMS appreciation week,” Kalynych beams.
Just this month, NRAC received 50 Medic 1, a Ford Expedition Medic Unit, and last month, they received 50 EMS 5, a Crestline type 1 ambulance, which are both up and running and were proudly on display for the community to get a closer look at.
Kalynych notes that EMS equipment is very expensive, so they are hoping for some donations to cover the cost of the equipment that they still need, which includes a Stryker power load system that costs $18,950, a Stryker power stretcher costing $23,300, a Lifepak 15 cardiac monitor costing $44,850, an automatic CPR device costing $16,660, an average type 3 ambulance that starts at $159,900, and an average type 1 ambulance that starts at $214,900.
Kalynych also pointed out that NRAC works really well with the local fire and police departments like Vigilance Hose Company No. 1, Upper Nazareth Fire Department, Nazareth Police Department, and Upper Nazareth Police Department, which were all in attendance and brought goodies such as hand sanitizer, stickers, coloring books, miniature fire hats, and water bottles, as well as informational pamphlets.
Crowd favorite Sparky the Fire Dog was also in attendance from Vigilance Hose Fire Company No. 1, posing for pictures, shaking hands with everyone, and teaching kids about fire prevention and safety.
The open house also received support from St. Luke’s University Hospital-Trauma Network and Lehigh Valley Health Network who attended the event and brought goodies such as hand sanitizer, band-aids, chip-clips, notepads, and pens, as well as informational pamphlets on “Stop the Bleed,” injury prevention programs, and more.
Individuals and businesses interested in donating to the ambulance corps can make checks payable to the Nazareth Regional Ambulance Corps or NRAC and send them to their address at 519 Seip Ave. They will also be starting a subscription drive starting June 1, which residents can find more information about in the mail and on their website, nazarethems.com.
Additionally, individuals interested in renting out the Nazareth Regional Ambulance Corps event hall or applying for paramedic, EMT, and van transport driver positions can find more information and applications on their website as well.
