By RICK MILLER
Olean Star
ALLEGANY — Allegany Rescue and EMS Inc., held an open house for the public Saturday, June 14, from 2-7 p.m. at its new headquarters at 117 E. Main St.
Last Saturday, June 7, Allegany Rescue and EMS officials presented a plaque to the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany who sold the property — the site of the original St. Elizabeth Motherhouse — to the group.
Saturday’s open house will feature tours of the new facility including ambulances; CPR races, blood pressure reading and for the kids, a bounce house and face painting.
Jerry Cummins Sr., chief operating officer of Allegany Rescue and EMS, and Jim O’Brien, president of the group’s board of directors presented the plaque to Sister Melissa Scholl and Sister Mary Lou Lafferty.
“They have been coming here since the beginning,” O’Brien said of the sisters from the Motherhouse. “They have been following the growth of the building.” Construction started about a year ago and Allegany Rescue and EMS moved in this spring. It provides added room for storage and training as well as a garage for the ambulances and rescue vehicles. The group was formerly housed in the old Allegany Fire Department on North First Street across from the new fire hall complex.
Sister Scholl said that when the Franciscan sisters first came to Allegany in the 1800s, their mission was to meet the needs of the public. The sale of the former Motherhouse property helps meet the needs of the people. “Allegany Rescue and EMS respond to these needs.”
She said, “This land was special to us. We needed someone to take care of it and we partnered with Allegany Rescue and EMS.”
O’Brien said Allegany Rescue and EMS cover 96 square miles of territory. “Our needs and their needs matched up,” he added.
The new facility is 5,700 square feet and includes a separate training room with a simulated patient that’s no dummy. It is highly computerized and capable of providing dozens of medical situations.
During last Saturday’s open house, two high school seniors who volunteer with Allegany Rescue and EMS, Ipshita Patra and Stephanie Kopec, were training with Kathy Linville, who represents the company that provided the simulator.
Outside in the garage, Danielle Aiello, an assistant and Michael Gargano, an emergency medical technician, gave people tours of one of the ambulances.
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