History
Manheim Township Ambulance Association first started on June 11, 1971. The purpose of this corporation was to conduct, maintain, and operate a community and public ambulance service on a non-profit basis for the aid, assistance, benefit, and relief of the community of Manheim Township and the surrounding areas.
During the first few months, 21 members of the community were trained and became Pa State certified Ambulance Attendants. During this training phase, Manheim Township Ambulance received its first ambulance and it was housed at the Eden Fire Company. On October 8th 1971, the ambulance crew began their weekend coverage.

1966 Cadillac
The first response occurred on October 8, 1971. Within the next two to three years, service was expanded to include weekdays, and evenings.
In November of 1971, the Organization received its second ambulance and moved its headquarters to the Neffsville Bus Barn and remained there until moving to their current location at 1820 Municipal Drive in late 1972.

1968 Cadillac
In the 70’s the ambulance responded to 300-500 calls for help per year, and in the 80’s those calls increased to 1000-2000 calls for help, and continued to increase in the 90’s averaging 2500-3500 calls for assistance.
Today
Some forty (40) years later the Association still believes in the original philosophies. The Manheim Township Ambulance Association serves all of Manheim Township in a BLS capacity and most of the Township is an ALS capacity. In 1999 a satellite station was opened at the Lancaster Airport, which helps provide faster response times to the northern section of Manheim Township. The organization also provides ALS care to some portions of Warwick Township, East Petersburg Boro and Surrounding areas.
The Association remains a non-profit entity that relies both on donations from community residents as well 3rd party billing for services rendered as income to cover costs. Both are complied and completed in house, to reduce costs. The Association solicits approximately 14000 residents and 1100 businesses for donations each year.
Currently, Manheim Township Ambulance has 15 active volunteers, 52 career staff, 1 on sight mechanic, An Executive Director, a Director of Operations, and 23 Office personnel that handle all billing and subscription issues.
The Organization today has four (4) Braun Ambulances, three (3) Wheelchair Vans for non-emergency transports, one (1) Invalid Coach for non-emergency transports, and a ALS Squad Unit. We staff at least two ambulances 24 hours a day, one of them at least is a MICU at all times. In addition, we staff three BLS Providers Monday through Friday between 8 am and 4 pm. to handle all non-emergency transports and we have recently added a BLS Unit Monday through Friday from 12 pm to 8 pm.
In 2010 Manheim Township Ambulance was dispatched to respond on 4632 emergency calls through the 911 system. Additionally we ran over 2700 non-emergency transports and stood by as an EMS Unit for over 600 standbys, including community, and sporting events in and around Manheim Township.
Our Board of Trustees:
Nine Trustees oversee our Association. These men and women are professional members of the community and serve as trustees on a volunteer basis. They meet semi-monthly and direct the affairs of the Organization.
Our Volunteers:
Our volunteers are a group of Emergency Medical Technicians, who spend countless hours training and serving the community in a volunteer capacity.
Our Career Staff:
Our career staff are made up of highly skilled Emergency Medical Technicians and Paramedics.
How do we answer the call:
All emergencies go through Lancaster Countywide Communications (911). Emergency calls in our area are dispatched to our Station by an in-house alert system, radios and pagers. Routine transports are received at our business office and are directed to the crews by pager, radios, or cellular phones.
What Services do we provide:
In addition to answering both BLS and ALS emergency calls , we also handle scheduled routine services including Wheelchair Transport to and from medically related facilities, nursing homes, and also private residents. We also offer long distance transports for our residents and have transported to Florida, Michigan, Ohio, Connecticut, North Carolina, Virginia, and Delaware among other places along the east coast.
Training Requirements:
All Staff must be re-certified yearly on the following: Bloodborne Pathogens, TB Testing, Haz-Mat Operations level, Sexual Harassment, HIPPA, and by-yearly CPR and AED. In addition to maintaining their level of certification (EMT/Paramedic), they must attend at least 24 hours of continuing education in both trauma and other medically relate areas every three years.
Medical Direction:
Our Paramedics receive medical direction through Ephrata Hospital, and are required to attend monthly staff meetings under the direction of the Medical Director. All employees are required yearly to take age based and skill based competency tests.
Liability:
Our Organization has been audited by an outside Consulting Firm concerning federal, state, and local laws, which govern Emergency Medical Service organizations. In addition, we are required by the PA Department of Health to be inspected every three years for re-licensure. We have made every effort to minimize the liability to our organization, our community, and our patients by complying with all applicable laws concerning our service.
Financial Status:
Manheim Township Ambulance Association has become reliant on the generous support of the residents and businesses within our community. We solicit for donations on a yearly basis to offset the cost associated with providing our services. We also third party bill for services rendered to our patients. With the costs to maintain the service we provide constantly increasing and reimbursements from Insurance companies declining, we count heavily on and appreciate the financial support from the residents and businesses of Manheim Township.
Commitment:
Our commitment to the Residents and Businesses of Manheim Township are:
- Quality Ambulance service at a reasonable and customary cost.
- An extensive medically related Transport Service at a nominal fee.
- Staffing twenty-four hours a day for both emergency and non-emergency calls.
- State of the Art equipment and Ambulances.
- Continued training requirements for our Staff.
What do we offer to our Community:
- Tours are available of our facility and equipment for Scouts, School Groups, and other Service Organizations.
- Blood Pressure Screenings
- Yearly Volunteer Scholarship to Manheim Township High School
- Standby services for Manheim Township Community Days, Special Olympics, Graduations, Football Games, Soccer Games, Carnivals, Make-a-Wish and other related stand-bys.
- CPR/AED and First Aid training to Nursing and Rehabilitation facilities, the Lancaster Airport, Doctor and Dentist Offices in Manheim Township. Our Education Staff offers these and other specialized training classes at a reduced rates for Businesses and residents of Manheim Township.
- Place AED’s in the community in public areas and help local businesses secure their own AEDs’ at our costs.
- Manheim Township Ambulance is a certified training center, offering an EMS Academy at competitive rates for the individual looking to get involved in helping others through EMS.
- 40 years has seen a lot of change come to the Manheim Township Ambulance Association as we have tried to continue to meet the emergency and non-emergency medical needs of our Community, and we are poised to meet the challenges that will face us down the road.
