HISTORY

The Haledon Emergency Ambulance Association began as the brainchild of Albert Rountree, who was then Police Chief of Haledon. He realized the need of such a service to the residents of Haledon, and became the guiding light behind the formation of the Association. Fourteen Haledon men, councilmen, school board members, the mayor, the recorder, the Chief of Police, and businessmen of the borough formed the original ambulance committee, as they called themselves.

A meeting was held at the insurance office of Edward Pries, at 410 Belmont Ave., Haledon, on September 25, 1933, at which time the Haledon Emergency Ambulance Association was formed. On November 13, 1933, the Associations first ambulance was ready for service with an ambulance body built on a donated Cadillac chassis. The Association members then decided to incorporate themselves and this was completed in December of 1933.

When the original ambulance was put into service back in 1933, it was housed in Siegel's bus garage on Belmont Avenue, now the home of Wagner School bus services. Meetings were held by the Association in the office of Edward Pries, later in the Masonic Hall and then in a garage on Morrissee Avenue.

In 1947, the organization decided to try and build a permanent ambulance headquarters. First, to house the ambulance and equipment, second to hold meetings, and third, to conduct classes in new and improved methods of life saving skills. After some negotiating, the lots at 411 Morrissee Avenue were leased to the corps by the borough of Haledon for $1 a year.

By June of 1949, a modern headquarters (for that time) had been constructed from the donations of the residents of Haledon, North Haledon, and Prospect Park. This building provided a clean environment for the ambulance, and the members of the organization. The first floor provided an ambulance bay, a first aid supply room, oxygen supply room, and furnace room. The second floor provided a large meeting room, with a small kitchen, and restrooms with shower facilities for both men, and women. Shortly thereafter the property was sold to the Association by the borough of Haledon at the cost of $25.

As the local population grew from the construction of new housing during the post war baby boom, the Association found that it was in need of a second ambulance to cover the towns, and also as a backup when one was out of service. Through fund raising campaigns the organization was able to raise enough money to purchase a second ambulance in 1958. Before delivery of the new ambulance, the borough of North Haledon offered the use of one of it's garage bays at the borough garage on Overlook Avenue with light, heat, and telephone service included.

In April of 1962, the Association was granted a $1 a year lease to the old Municipal building on Linda Vista Avenue now the home of North Haledon UNICO. The Association's members did all building renovations, and much of the materials were donated by local businesses. By November of 1963 the building and grounds were completed and it was dedicated to the people of Haledon, North Haledon, and Prospect Park.

By 1960, the population had grown such that it was not uncommon for two ambulance units to be out on calls at the same time and the need for a third backup ambulance became an issue. Early in 1963 it was decided to purchase a third vehicle in order to move loan equipment (hospital beds, wheelchairs, crutches etc.), answer fire calls, and act as a third ambulance when required. This vehicle was also kept in the North Haledon garage.

In 1967, the use of a small garage on Tilt Street was obtained from the borough of Haledon. This was used to store the overflow of loan equipment from the North Haledon garage.

By 1968, the Association had purchased the Excelsior Sales building at 84 N. 13th Street in Prospect Park from the father of Senator Frank X. Graves through the sale of bonds. This building provided the Association with a large amount of additional space for the storage of loan equipment, making vehicle repairs, and also provided a wash area so that the ambulance vehicles could be washed indoors all year long.

All during this time the main goal of the Association was to provide the fastest service possible to the residents of the three boroughs. Back then all dispatching was done by members of the Association who volunteered to be dispatchers. The dispatchers had two phones and a two-way radio installed in their homes, and each dispatcher took turns manning the phones in twelve hour shifts during the week. On weekends one dispatcher would have the phones for 48 hours. Call running members of the Association would call the dispatcher to place themselves on call, and provide the dispatcher with a phone number where they could be reached. This along with having a building in each borough, is how the Association provided the fastest ambulance service possible before the days of the 911 system, and paging devices.

This system continued to function the same until 1984 when the costs involved (>$10K/Yr) in maintaining the phone lines in each dispatchers home, became too great for the Association. The Association then approached the borough of Haledon to see if their Police Department would be willing to dispatch the Ambulance crews. The borough agreed and the Association purchased a repeater system, and pagers for the members. This system has remained in service up to the present day with the exception, that the Police from the Borough of North Haledon now provide the dispatching.

During the 1980s, the Association saw decreasing revenues from its fund-raising activities, and greatly increasing insurance premiums. In 1980, it cost about $7000 to fully insure the organization, by 1990, this figure had grown to $30,000. In 1988, the Association began to negotiate with the three Boroughs for additional funds to help keep it running. By 1990, an agreement was reached in which the three Boroughs would refund the insurance payments for the previous year based on the number of calls that were answered in each town. This, along with establishing a computerized fund raising campaign, kept the organization in the black until it met it's next hurdle in 1996.

In 1980, the Association had purchased three high-top van ambulance units at the cost of $35,000 to replace it's fleet of aging Cadillacs. These new vehicles served the Association until 1987, when the Association began to replace them due to the increased maintenance costs in operating them. At this time, the Association came to realize that the cost of purchasing one new ambulance unit was now slightly greater than the cost to buy three units in 1980. After obtaining a low interest VESO loan from the State for $20,000, and doing some shopping around, the Association purchased a new ambulance from a manufacturer in Oklahoma for $45,000. This vehicle was picked up and delivered by members of the Association who volunteered their time to reduce the shipping costs.

In 1990, the organization purchased a leftover 1989 ambulance, and a used 1987 ambulance at a combined cost of $75,000 to replace the last two 1980 units. The purchasing of these vehicles was accomplished by the parents of an Association member who provided a loan at a reduced interest rate. By 1994, all loans had been repaid, and in 1995, the Association bought a new ambulance to replace the 1987 unit, at the cost of $54,000.

By 1996, the Association began to talk to the Boroughs about additional funding to help pay for equipment, vehicles, and needed building repairs. Through much negotiation with the Boroughs, it was determined by the Borough fathers, that the best possible solution would be to purchase three new ambulance vehicles to be used by the Association. The Boroughs would also pick up the costs of insurance, maintenance, and fuel for these vehicles. The other aspect of this deal was that they would no longer reimburse the Association for its other insurance costs. This left the Association with having to pay for it's workman's compensation and liability insurance coverage at a cost of around $20,000 per year. This deal resulted in no net monetary gain for the Association since the costs of loan payments, insurance, repairs, and fuel for the vehicles that the Association owned came to around $20,000. This still left the Association with the problem of coming up with funding for equipment, and needed building repairs. In May of 1998, three new vehicles were delivered for use by the Association, and these were all housed in the building at 84 N. 13th Street in Prospect Park. The Association rotates the use of the vehicles to keep the mileage about the same for all three vehicles.