In July of 1957, a meeting was held at the Excelsior Hose Co #1, for the purpose of possibly starting an ambulance service that would respond to emergencies within the borough of Olyphant and surrounding areas (Blakely, Peckville, Jessup, Throop and Dickson City). At the time of this meeting, there existed only 1 other ambulance service in the area north of Scranton, Archbald Ambulance. The meeting proved to be daunting, with the fate of our ambulance service left in the hands of our only two supporters, Excelsior Hose Co #1 and Eureka Hose Co #4. Well, as fate would have it, on July 30, 1958, we had our very first ambulance delivered to Olyphant. It was a Cadillac from Milton Pennsylvania. It was purchased by the Olyphant Lion's Club and was staffed by members of Excelsior Hose Co #1 and Eureka Hose Co #4. It was stationed at Excelsior Hose Co #4 from 1958 to 1997. On August 1, 1958, Olyphant Ambulance responded to its very first call and in that first month responded to a total of 22 calls. A great victory for the borough of Olyphant and its new ambulance service.
Our endeavor proved to be a huge success, allowing us to purchase our second ambulance (another Cadillac) in 1961 and our third (another Cadillac) in 1966. 1n 1970, a building committee was formed and a new addition to house the ambulances at Excelsior Hose Co #1 was underway. Our small-town ambulance service was continuing to grow by leaps and bounds, allowing us, yet again, to purchase another ambulance - this time an International in 1973 and another Cadillac Ambulance in 1978.
In 1982, the ambulance service was rechartered and officially named "Olyphant Ambulance and Rescue Squad". In 1983 we purchased our first Modular Ambulance - a Braun on a Ford chassis and we received our BLS Certification License from the Pennsylvania Department of Health. In 1988 we replaced our Braun with another new ambulance, this time a Mobile Medical on a Ford diesel chassis.
In 1997, we broke ground for our new ambulance building at 530 East Park Street. Our new station would have 2 apparatus bays, crew lounge, radio/bunk room, kitchen area, large training hall and office space. In 1999, we followed the construction of our new building with another ambulance purchase, this time a Braun Chief on a Ford diesel chassis.
We've come a long way since that meeting back in 1957. We currently respond to 400 calls per year, are part of a National Strike team for catastrophic events, purchased a Quick Response Vehicle in 2005 (a Ford Explorer) and purchased an off-road rescue vehicle in 2007 (Polaris Ranger)
We are proud to serve the borough of Olyphant and the surrounding communities.
