Service Archives - American Ambulance Association

Spotlight: Gold Cross Ambulance Celebrates 50 Years in Business

Written by Aidan Camas on April 3, 2018. Posted in News, Service, Spotlight.

Gold Cross Ambulance Celebrates 50th Anniversary!

When Gene Moffitt founded Gold Cross Ambulance in March 1968, he didn’t know that 50 years later the company would be where it is today, the longest-running and largest private ambulance service in Utah.

At its core, Gold Cross is a family-run business. In fact, Gold Cross started out of the Moffitts’ home after he rented two Cadillac ambulances. In the beginning, Moffitt and two or three other employees responded to calls from the family home, where his wife, Julia, oversaw dispatch operations while caring for their young children. Julia has been central to the business since the beginning and has played an essential role in Gold Cross’s continued success.

Today Gold Cross employs over 500 people, operates around 140 ambulances, and responds to hundreds of 911 calls a day. Despite this growth, Gold Cross remains a family business with deep roots in the community—something that the Moffitts are very proud of.

Moffitt points to a couple of factors that have made Gold Cross’s journey a successful one. First, he’s always had a knack for being in the right places at the right time. But he believes that being honorable to the commitment he has made to provide high-quality healthcare to the people of Utah has been critical to his company’s ongoing success. “Success has not come to Gold Cross without much sacrifice over the years,” Moffitt says. “Growing and expanding has not been an easy process, but with dedication and a bit of luck, Gold Cross has been able to overcome the many trials and tribulations we’ve faced.”

Of course when you’ve been in business for 50 years, you’ll have seen many changes to your industry. Moffitt says one of the biggest changes he’s witnessed has been the buyouts of many ambulance services over the years, and that’s something he believes has been both good and bad for the industry. “When large companies buy out smaller ones,” he explains, “the connection of the ambulance service to the community that there was in the past is lost.” Moffitt notes that Gold Cross has never tried to go into another area unless it has been asked to. “Going into a new area to provide service is a delicate process,” he says. ”You must re-prove yourself to the community while being sensitive to the locals and to employees who may come over from the previous provider.” As a family-run business, nurturing the bond between Gold Cross and the communities it serves has always been very important to the Moffitt family.

Looking back on a more personal level, Moffitt has many memories he is proud of. The other day he came across a photo of one of the first babies that Gold Cross transported by ambulance in 1968 or 1969. Gold Cross worked closely with Dr. Larry Jung, a pioneering neonatologist, to help him provide life-saving care to children in Utah. “I’m in awe of how the medical community has really evolved over the last 50 years to give sick newborns and infants a better chance to live,” Moffitt says, smiling. “The baby in that photo would now be 50 years old!”

Gold Cross was also involved in the first heart transplant that took place in Utah. Gold Cross helped the hospital move the patient back and forth with the tremendous amount of equipment necessary for the procedure. The company also played a large role in the Salt Lake City Olympics back in 2002.

Moffitt also made many lifelong friendships because of his involvement with the AAA, including through his work as a past President of the association. He notes that the early AAA days were very important to his work at Gold Cross, giving his ambulance service access to resources and information that Gold Cross would not have had on its own. “The AAA helps foster a friendly relationship amongst providers,” he adds, “and members are very willing to share information about best practices and other experiences.”

Moffitt is working on bringing the company’s past and present together very visually, while giving a confident nod to the future. Gold Cross is refurbishing its remaining 1960 Cadillac ambulances and has also purchased a new ambulance to celebrate the 50^th anniversary. When the brand-new ambulance is shown off alongside the 1960s ambulance, it will give a clear picture of where Gold Cross has come from and where the company is going.

New Gold Cross 50th Anniversary Ambulance

And of course there will be numerous celebrations with staff and family, both of whom have been critical to Gold Cross’s success over the years.

One thing that has stayed exactly the same? Moffitt’s vision for Gold Cross—“to provide quality medical care and customer service to anyone, regardless of race, creed, color, religion, or the ability to pay.”

Please join the AAA in congratulating Gene, Julia, the Moffitt family, and Gold Cross Ambulance on 50 years of providing high-quality healthcare to the people of Utah.

Congratulations, and here’s to many more successful years!

Staff Visit to Richmond Ambulance Authority

Written by Amanda Riordan on May 31, 2016. Posted in AAA HQ, Community, Service.

Last week, American Ambulance Association staff took a road trip south to tour the Richmond Ambulance Authority. Known across the country and around the world for their innovative approach to EMS, RAA certainly did not disappoint.

Thank you to Chip Decker, Rob Lawrence, Dan Fellows, Elizabeth Papelino, Danny Garrison, Dempsey Whit, Jason Roach, and the whole RAA team for the hospitality and generosity with their time!

The Acadian Effect

Written by Desiree LaFont on October 28, 2015. Posted in Ambulance Chaser Blog, Community, Press, Service, Spotlight.

By Desiree LaFont, Education & Events Director, American Ambulance Association

October 2015

In a previous life I worked for a hospitality-related association. Within that industry there was something known as the “Gaylord Effect”—when Gaylord Hotels would open a property in a city, all of the other businesses in the area, including other hotel brands, benefitted. High standards, a sterling reputation, and the ultimate in customer service meant Gaylord booked convention and leisure business on a scale few could rival. Everyone from the local cab drivers to the bartenders to the surrounding hotels profited from the huge influx of travelers. Where once feared as the luxury brand that would crush the competition, they were soon seen as a desirable ally. So fast forward a few years, and I have a new life working for the American Ambulance Association (AAA), but I often think about the Gaylord brand and their ability to change a city with their commitment to their customers. If you are wondering what any of this has to do with ambulance services, I’m about to get to that.

On a recent trip to Louisiana to document the tenth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and the role AAA members had in the recovery, the AAA’s Director of Membership, Amanda Riordan, and I had the opportunity to visit Acadian Ambulance. Armed with a local videographer, a short list of questions, and a crippling doubt in our ability to capture what is arguably the most important private EMS story in recent history, we arrived at Acadian’s Air Med Station in Lafayette, Louisiana.

Lafayette Headquarters

Our first interview was with Marc Creswell, Acadian’s Air Med Operations Manager. Marc’s story is incredible for a number of reasons, and I won’t attempt to retell all of it here, but I will tell you Marc is the kind of guy that could have inspired the phrase, “when the going gets tough, the tough get going.” This is the guy you want in your foxhole. And to be honest, we could have completed our interview with Marc, packed up, and had more than enough material to tell a great story about Acadian and Katrina, but Acadian was just getting started.

We spent the remainder of the day interviewing Dee Dee Sewell, their Critical Support Intervention Specialist; Clay Henry, Acadian’s Vice President of Operations, Communications Center; Blane Comeaux, President of Acadian Total Security; and Chairman and CEO Richard Zuschlag. Everyone, including Mr. Zuschlag, gave us more time then we could have hoped for and held nothing back. They shared a great many operational details, but always through the lens of the story of the people behind all those unseen efforts and rescues.

Downtown New Orleans

The next day we visited downtown New Orleans to meet with Steven Kuiper, Regional Vice President for Acadian. Within minutes, I felt like I was hearing the story of Katrina for the first time. Steven shared facts, but, once again, it was wrapped in the story of the people around him—the suffering and the heroism he personally observed on the ground.

And, then came the big finish; Janie Fuller, Paramedic Field Supervisor and lifelong resident of St. Bernard Parish. Janie accompanied us to the Mayor’s Office to interview Deputy Mayor Andy Kopplin and New Orleans Director of EMS Dr. Jeffrey Elder. She then gave us the insiders’ tour of her parish and showed us exactly where the levees were breached. Her entire hometown was under eighteen feet of water in 15 minutes, but by nightfall Janie had commandeered an airboat and was taking a cardiac patient to I-10 and Causeway for evacuation. Needless to say, Janie is a force of nature herself, and no matter what dark alley a call takes her down, this lady is coming out alive and so is her patient.

Telling the Story

[quote_right]What also emerged during our visit was Acadian’s ability to tell the human side of what it means to be in EMS. They tell the Katrina story and the story of their company with humility, grace, and a deep appreciation for their colleagues and the many other services that stepped in to lend a hand.[/quote_right]What emerged over the course of those two days of interviews was the amazing story of what Acadian, and private EMS, were able to accomplish in the midst of the hurricane’s devastation. Hospitals were shuttered, law enforcement was overrun, citizens were cut off, and conditions for everyone—including EMS—were unspeakable. Despite this, medics in the area stayed and other ambulance services rolled in.

Hundreds of ambulances with trained medics rolled in to help New Orleans and countless communities throughout Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. Whether or not they knew how bad the situation was, they still went in. No one can ever calculate what that response meant to the City of New Orleans and the other affected areas, but I think we all have a sense of how much worse it would have been without the timely response of private EMS. What also emerged during our visit was Acadian’s ability to tell the human side of what it means to be in EMS. They tell the Katrina story and the story of their company with humility, grace, and a deep appreciation for their colleagues and the many other services that stepped in to lend a hand.
So after an incredible 48 hours in Louisiana we had to head home, and I left with a heavy heart. I wanted to stay a little longer. No, I wanted to stay a lot longer. But why? As I sat on the plane home, it hit me. It was the Acadian Effect. Acadian is that big, shining example of what an innovative, self-determined private EMS company can mean to the population they serve. How you can put people first and come out a winner. How when you put people first everyone benefits. Telling the incredible Acadian success story benefits all of EMS because it typifies the EMS culture of going beyond what’s required and how maintaining human dignity is an essential part of patient care.

So let’s tell that story! Let’s tell the story of Acadian and Katrina. Let’s tell the story of Sandy, Joplin, the Boston Bombing, and the thousands of times a day private EMS responds to 9-1-1 with compassion and highly skilled medical knowledge because that’s your chosen profession. Let’s tell the story until the press, the public and the legislators are telling it for us.

Our heartfelt thanks to Acadian and every AAA member we have the privilege of serving.

Want More?

Watch AAA’s Katrina & Rita retrospective video that features many of the subjects of this blog post.

Acadian Ambulance High School Champions Livonia

Acadian’s High School Champions Program Leads the Way

Written by Amanda Riordan on July 29, 2015. Posted in Community, Human Resources, Service, Spotlight, Training.

Founded in 1971 in with just eight staff and two vehicles, Acadian Ambulance has grown over the years to more than 4000 employees with a fleet of 400 ground ambulances, helicopters, fixed-wing airplanes, and van and bus transports. Their territory has expanded from Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, to stations spanning large swaths of Louisiana, Texas, and Mississippi.

How does such a large and varied service feed their talent pipeline? In addition to many other strategies, Acadian is leading the industry in its efforts to engage young adults in EMS through its High School Champions program, a division of their National EMS Academy.

To learn more about the ins-and-outs of the program, AAA caught up with Porter Taylor, Acadian’s Director of Operations. Taylor has been in EMS for 29 years, since he joined Acadian Ambulance as a college sophomore. “I love making a difference in people’s lives. When I was working on a unit it was the patient, and now, almost 30 years later, it is the employees that I love helping.”

Establishing High School Champions was not a linear path. Initially, Acadian would send medics to career fairs and school functions to introduce the field and promote its National EMS Academy (NEMSA) as an opportunity after graduation. “There are a lot of technical grants out there, and a critical staffing need for EMS in general. We wanted to create an avenue for educating students about the benefits of becoming EMTs to support our staffing needs long term,” said Taylor.

Although these medic visits were effective, Acadian wanted to expand the fledgling program’s scope and reach. He began visiting area high schools and meeting with school boards and directors more than a year ago to build relationships and explore opportunities. The partnerships he built added another facet to the High School Champion initiative wherein Acadian continues to promote NEMSA, coupled with an effort to get the schools to incorporate an EMT program as an elective prior to graduation. “[I wanted] to introduce them to our company and our support of this technical career path. My goal was to let the teachers and technical program directors know that Acadian has jobs for their students upon the successful completion of the program. Once students turn 18, Acadian will be able to offer them a rewarding position with good pay and benefits and with continuing education opportunities.”

Acadian Operations Manager Justin Cox was instrumental in the implementation at Livonia High School, a recent addition to the program. In concert with his professional know-how, Cox had a personal connection to the school—his thirteen year old daughter attends Livonia.

Collaborating with the administration, Acadian now works with schools like Livonia to introduce EMS career paths at the end of high school, a time when students are making key choices about their futures. Students can start the EMT training program as an elective prior to graduation and take the national certification exam upon turning 18. Students spend 2-3 hours 3 days a week, during their junior and senior years preparing. “It is a joy to work on this program,” said Taylor, “It is a privilege to help young people make a career choice that is full of rewards.”

Related: The Advocate’s “High school program focuses on career awareness“

Does your service have a great program that is making a difference in your area? Let us know in the comments section below, or email ariordan@ambulance.org.