Portsmouth Volunteer Fire Department Donates Final Ambulance

For 77 years, Portsmouth's Volunteer Fire Department has supplied the town with state-of-the-art medical rescue equipment, but with a final donation last week that burden will now be on the taxpayers.

On Friday, the Portsmouth Volunteer Fire Department unveiled its final donation - a 2012 International/Horton Model 623 Medium Duty Ambulance at the cost of $205,000.

"This is top-of-the-line, state-of-the-art equipment and this is something that we may not be able to provide going forward," said Portsmouth Fire Department Chief Michael M. Cranston during a ceremony on Friday.

As this ambulance - and cardiac monitoring device - will be the last donated equipment to the town, taxpayers will need to figure in another line item in Portsmouth's annual budget in order to maintain and purchase medical rescue supplies.

The Portsmouth Volunteer Fire Department has come a long way since it was founded in 1936 with a company of volunteer firefighters and an old four-cylinder Model T combination ladder truck.

Many of the department's gains in technology and equipment are due to the continued diligence of the Portsmouth Volunteer Fire Department.

Until the 1980s the PVFD maintained a door-to-door grassroots approach to raising funds to cover the cost of rescue services in the town. However, as the town transformed from a rural agricultural community to its current suburban culture there were soon too many homes to canvas. 

"The town was getting so big that it was getting impossible to go door to door, so we started a mailing system," said PVFD President Henry Rodrigues.

Through 2000, the PVFD maintained its annual fundraising drives, garnering enough funds to outfit Portsmouth's medical rescue needs, but as the town continued to grow, funding began to dwindle. 

"Portsmouth became a bedroom town and people didn't understand where their money was going," said Deputy Chief Michael P. O'Brien. "There was also more competition from other fundraising drives."

Since 2000 when the town transitioned into billing patients treated by local rescue personnel, the town has worked alongside the PVFD to allocate funds collected from billings toward purchasing supplies and equipment.

The shiny red ambulance in the stall at the Portsmouth Fire Department symbolizes the end of an era in small town management. 

"With the big anniversary that the town is going through now, it is important to recognize the impact that this organization had on the town," said O'Brien. "Think about all the lives they have saved either directly or indirectly."

Going forward, the Portsmouth Fire Department will manage and budget for medical supply maintenance and needs, but the chiefs are optimistic about continuing quality critical care services.

"In the future we will be asking for the funding from the budget so we have the taxpayers to answer to and to convince of the need," said O'Brien.