It all started with a demonstrated need and an idea to preserve the continuity of delivery of prehospital emergent care in the Morrisville-Smithfield community in January 1996. A group of concerned citizens lead by Margaret Brody and Jeff Mitchell presented what they thought would be a good solution to the Village Board meeting in February 1996.

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Not only did they intend to start a rescue squad but they already had a list of 35 people who had pledge their help. The rescue squad was to be named SEVAC and a Board of Directors soon emerged to take on the planning and administrative duties. The people involved as the founding Board of Directors included Paul Schiffer, Esther Way, Anthony Zazzara, Karen Gay, Elaine Gray, Sue Polisse, and James McFarland.

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Many events soon followed in rapid successions with the dedicated help of many to make this dream a reality. The work had begun on the very important Certificate of Need with Margaret Brody and Terri Gallerani as the main players. 

 

Clarence Holbert fronted us with a $10,000 promise so that our financial viability could be assured to qualify for the Certificate of Need. The Village of Morrisville leased the ambulance to us for the sum of one dollar and the Fire Department sold us the equipment to start. Clarence Holbert again stepped up to buy our first radio so that the squad could communicate with the hospitals that serve our area.

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The Village donated a place in the Village Barn for the ambulance and Jim Dutcher donated a trailer to house the crew. With the ambulance and crew ready, we accomplished our first call on August 1, 1996. 

Our first crew composed of Fred Brooks, Marty Eiholzer, Jeff Mitchell and Kathy Parker. The following winter was quite cold and with the help of a donated space heater, the crews were kept in meager comfort. The drugs were carried in the ambulance and had to be kept in a refrigerator so that they would not freeze. The rescue squad dreamed of a place of its own.

We soon outgrew the crew facilities and seriously set about to build a place to call our own. A fund drive was undertaken and letters were sent out by Connie Shepard, Margaret Brody, and Catherine Holbert to nearly everyone in the community explaining our plight and asking for help. The response was really quite heartening. We even secured a $25,000 grant thanks to Assemblyman Bill Magee and our Paul Shiffer and William Conole and many others who worked on the application to further our cause. We became "Landed Gentry" as a result of a generous gift of land from Clarence Holbert.

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Our SEVAC barn was becoming a reality! Many of our members and members of the community contributed their time and talents to finish the interior of our "pole barn". After one of the many more application processes, we were granted our Certificate of Occupancy and moved into our brand new home.

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This was not to be the end of our good fortune. We had initially thought that it would be feasible to buy a new ambulance in 2004 but again due to the generosity of those in the community and involved with the application process, especially William Conole and William Kablack and State Senator, Nancy Lorraine Hoffman, a new ambulance was procured THREE YEARS ahead of what thought was initially feasible. 

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In 2018 we hired our first professional staffing. Today we are staffed with 3 Full-Time ALS providers, 2 additional ALS providers, 3 EMTs and 3 drivers. Volunteer members continue to dedicate their time for overnight staffing and second calls. They are made up of 6 EMT's, a Critical Care and 6 Drivers.

 

SEVAC was approached by the Eaton Fire Department in 2021 to assume ambulance transport inside their district. The agreement was finalized and approved in Jan 2022. SEVAC purchased their ambulance to support the increased district size and call volume. Our district was now expanded to the entirety of the Town of Eaton along with a portion of the Town of Lebanon. The Eaton Fire Department continues to provide an Advanced Life Support Rescue. In 2022, we reached our highest call volume to date at 926 calls.

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We provide emergency medical care and ambulance transportation in the Village of Morrisville and the Townships of Eaton, Smithfield, Fenner, Nelson and Lebanon New York.