Saturday, April 30, 2022 was a busy day for emergency medical services (EMS) teams at the West Grove Fire Company. 21 ambulance calls were dispatched in 24 hours, one of the busiest days in memory.

WGFC ambulance crews responded to 20 of the 21 calls. Of those calls, 12 of the calls were the first call in the district -- meaning the ambulance was responding to the original emergency during that time period. Eight of the calls were second calls in the district -- meaning WGFC crews were already handling the first emergency when the second call came in. There was one third call in the district -- three emergencies at once -- and that call was handled by our mutual aid partner, Station 23's ambulance from Avondale.

With those calls, the month came to an end with an amazing 274 calls in April -- that is a busy month! As regular visitors to this website are aware, the closing of the Jennersville Hospital has resulted in an increase in ambulance operations for the WGFC. Patients who might have gone to the local ER are now calling 911, and WGFC ambulances remain on calls much longer due to extended travel time to other area hospitals in West Chester and in Delaware. As a result, transport times have increased dramatically, and the workload on our EMS crews has also increased, as has the cost of operations with increased fuel expense and vehicle wear and tear.

Not only has the WGFC had to increase staffing, the organization has retained a used ambulance for a longer time than planned, and acquired an ambulance from the now closed Kennett Fire Company Ambulance as West Grove's fourth ambulance. WGFC ambulances are based at the West Grove and New London stations and two ambulances are staffed 24 X 7 most days. WGFC EMS handled 2,896 calls in 2021, covering 93+ square miles of territory across the townships of London Grove, Penn, and New London, as well as most of Franklin and London Britain townships, all of West Grove Borough, and the southeast portion of Londonderry Township.