Who We Are
The Swansea Ambulance Corps (SAC) is a volunteer non-profit Advanced Life Support (ALS) Ambulance service. We provide 911 emergency medical response to the town of Swansea and surrounding communities. While we are not a town agency and receive no funding from the town, we work very closely with all members of the Swansea Police Department and the Swansea Fire Department
You can read about our history here
What We Do
All of our members work very hard to provide state of the art pre-hospital medical care to Swansea residents. We respond to all types of calls from simple to very severe. Some of the most common 911 calls are:
- Lift Assist for a simple elder fall
- Hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar
- Car accidents
- Chest Pain, which may be "stable", or may be a full heart attack
- Breathing emergencies of many types
- Weakness, dizziness, nausea, and related pain
- Drug overdoses, including heroin and prescription drugs
Our Ambulances
We currently have four ambulances. Our two primary Class I ambulances are “A1” and “A3”. These are full size ambulances and have a crew of 2 or 3 members. “SP-1” is a Class V ambulance that is used by the senior Field Supervisors to respond to every emergency. This SUV carries all of the equipment and medications of the full size Class I ambulances but does not transport a patient. It is used to respond more rapidly to calls and will often be used by the Supervisor to proceed to a second or even a third medical call. We also have a third Class I ambulance, A2, that is used as a backup when another truck is out of service.
Our Equipment
Long ago, the most important job was getting the patient to the hospital quickly. Our ambulances are obviously a very important part of our response, but that is no longer the focus of pre-hospital medicine. Our job is to “Bring the care to the patient”. The tools we carry allow us to do that. Each ambulance has:
- Cardiac Monitor - A very advanced medical device that lets us take an EKG, measure blood oxygen measure CO2 in your breath, and take blood pressures. It also functions as a defibrillator. We can even send this data directly to the hospital from the patients bed side and we were the first EMS in the region to do so in a life threatening emergency.
- Lucas Chest Thumper - Life-sustaining circulation of blood can be created through effective and uninterrupted chest compressions. Performing manual chest compressions of high quality is both difficult and tiring, and impossible in certain situations. All of our ambulances carry a Lucas. They provide perfect chest compressions when the crew is moving the patient or performing other important tasks.
- CPAP - used to treat severe breathing emergencies that can occur with Congestive Heart Failure, COPD, and asthma. In many cases this simple device can take a patient that is panicked and struggling to breath and within just a few short minutes dramatically improve their condition.
- Electric stretchers, backboards, stair chairs - These are used for safe extrication and movement of patients regardless of their location.
- Intravenous or IV therapies - Nobody likes these, but in an emergency they are mandatory in order to provide fluids and medications. IVs can be placed in the hand, arm, neck, and if necessary, directly into bone marrow.
- Medications - Each ambulance carries over 30 different drugs. Aspirin, glucose, epinepherine (Epi-Pen) and albuterol are common and their uses are well known to the public. Narcotics like Fentanyl, are used for pain management, and are rigidly controlled with twice daily inspections. Numerous cardiac medications (adenosine, amiodarone, lidocaine, and metoprolol) are given once the heart condition is identified. Paramedics are well trained in the theory, usage, dosage, effects and contra-indications of all medications we carry. cardiac care
- Communications - While they are not actually medical equipment, we rely on a large collection of mobile and hand-held radios, computers, laptops, smart phones, and networks. We constantly monitor all local emergency radio channels in Swansea and neighboring towns as needed.