Since 1973 – CAVAC Still Going Strong
1973: In February the Cazenovia community learned that Walsh & Ayer Funeral Home would no longer provide ambulance service to the area. In May, public meetings were held and an ambulance service planning committee was formed, chaired by Edwin Ammann and including Dr. Bob Schramm and John Walsh. On June 12, 100 volunteers were presented a plan to create a volunteer ambulance corps to serve the Cazenovia School District and Delphi Falls. From July through November, Cazenovia Area Volunteer Ambulance Corps (CAVAC) was chosen as the name, a CAVAC logo was designed, $55,000 was raised, bylaws were written, incorporation papers were filed, officers were elected, ambulances and equipment were ordered, and more than 125 volunteers were trained. In December, volunteers began the conversion of the Carpenter Carriage Barn on Forman Street into CAVAC headquarters/base. The first ambulance arrived on Christmas Eve.
1974: February 26, the inaugural CAVAC banquet was held at the Nelson Inn. Operations began on March 1 with 232 charter members. The first call was actually before that on Wednesday, February 28, 1974, when ambulance CAVAC II headed to a snowmobile accident in Erieville.
About 30% of the original crews were EMTs (in 1974 they were METs). By the end of 1974 there were 256 active members and 75% of the crews were EMTs. CAVAC responded to 283 calls in our first year. The CAVAC Student Corps was also established in 1974.
1976: The first CAVAC Craft Fair was held. Revenue from this major community and regional event was used to support CAVAC training and other membership activities and each event involved nearly 100 vendors and required hundreds of hours of service from CAVAC members, Student Corps, and families over the 4th-of-July holiday weekend. The Fair moved in 1983 to the Lorenzo Historic Site where it hosted hundreds of vendors over almost 36 years.
1977-1978: CAVAC membership voted to become an Advanced Life Support (ALS) provider. $35,000 was raised to equip the ambulances. CAVAC ran the first ALS class in Madison County and 25 medics were trained.
1980-1989: In 1981 a billing system was initiated to encourage payment for services. A fund drive was held in 1981 to raise $45,000 for a new ambulance, and another drive in 1989 raised $20,000 for building repairs. CAVAC received the Cazenovia Civic award in 1989.
1994: After 20 years of service there were 20 active charter members. Among the active crew there were 4 paramedics, 3 medics and 3 intermediate medics. CAVAC was now averaging about 650 calls a year. A fund drive that year raised $134,000 for a new ambulance and for updating our communication system to be compatible with the future implementation of the the 911 system.
1998-1999: In our 25th year dispatcher responsibilities began to change as the 911 system became operational. CAVAC was now answering over 700 calls a year with only 66 crew members, including 4 paramedics and 6 medics (EMT3s), all volunteers. Less than half of the remaining crew were EMTs. There were 15 remaining active charter members.
2001: ALS calls were increasing, but the number of EMT3s and paramedics was not. In order to remain an ALS provider CAVAC began to hire paid paramedics.
2003-2004: Revenues received from insurance payments, contributions and fundraisers were no longer enough to cover the rising operational costs. CAVAC submitted petitions for an ambulance tax district which was approved by the townships covered by its services. The tax revenues CAVAC began to receive in 2004 have been used almost entirely to offset the cost of hiring paramedics.
2009-2010: As CAVAC completed its 35th year of operation, extensive and costly repairs needed to be done on the Carriage Barn headquarters/base.
After extensive study it was concluded that building a new facility was the most cost-effective solution. Land on Nelson Street was acquired through a gift from the Lucas family and the cost of construction was covered through a combination of a mortgage loan, savings, and grants. CAVAC moved into its new headquarters in February of 2010. Volunteer membership, once at nearly 300, had dropped below 100. CAVAC was now answering 800 calls per year.
2013-2019: CAVAC answered 756 calls in its 40th year. In May of 2014, CAVAC and the Cazenovia Fire Department Rescue Squad were presented the Fireman of the Year award from the Madison County Volunteer Firemen’s Association. CAVAC also began a plan of saving for and replacing our ambulances every 5 years.
2020-2021: The COVID pandemic challenged everyone, but the healthcare system more than most. While many were in lockdown ambulance services were still required and our members accepted the challenge. CAVAC crews adjusted to: masking and gowning; testing; quarantining; forced emergency room diversions and many other restrictive measures. Dispatchers learned to do their job remotely from home. Membership declined, but the number of calls we answered did not. There were only few occasions when it was necessary to call for mutual aid.
2023: After 50 years CAVAC was averaging 1000 calls per year. Our membership numbers slowly recovered from the COVID years. We accelerated, but also improved our driver training. A monthly training routine for EMTs was been implemented and new ambulances were ordered. There are still 4 charter members active in CAVAC. Active paramedic Bryan Ramsey was on duty the first day of operation, Friday, March 1, 1974, and on Friday, March 1, 2024.
2025: To address the challenges of managing a large volunteer organization, CAVAC membership voted in April to make the role of Chief of Operations a paid staff position, providing enhanced levels of stability and professionalism.
Partners: Over the years many groups have aided CAVAC, but none has been more important than the Cazenovia Fire Department Rescue Squad. They provided most of the operational leadership in the beginning and nurtured inexperienced crews into confident and competent attendants. A working partnership evolved over 50 years that has benefited all who need emergency services. CAVAC is also indebted to other Fire Department Rescue partners from Erieville, New Woodstock, Delphi Falls, and Chittenango who serve parts of our Ambulance District.
People: CAVAC’s history is not just been about ambulances, equipment and fund raisers. It is about people. In the 1970’s more than half of our daytime crews were women. Many were young adults whose educational choices had left them unemployed. For these people, and many of our Student Corps members, CAVAC was a seminal experience. Many would change career paths and go into a variety of medical fields. But not all were young. One of CAVAC’s first medics, a farmer, school bus driver and grandfather would choose to become an RN at age 60.
Families: CAVAC has also been a history of families. From the beginning dozens of couples served CAVAC. They often recruited other family members and friends. Over the years there have been as many as 7 CAVAC members from the same family as well as three generations from some families.
Legacy: The people who established CAVAC over 50 years ago and today’s members share a common characteristic, they are “givers”, not “takers”. Many have sacrificed untold hours of their own time to train and serve. They are people who want to make a difference whether it is giving life saving medical aid, answering a phone or comforting a family. This is our history. This our legacy.
— Pete Diefendorf