At the beginning of the year, after Chief Darrin Downs took the helm at the Springs Fire Department, Bob Davis mentioned that the 40th anniversary of the year the department began offering emergency medical services was approaching. That was the end of the conversation; little did he know that Chief Downs had filed the information away for a special presentation at the department’s annual awards dinner last month.
Mr. Davis, who is in his 53rd year of service to the department, was one of seven founders of the ambulance service and its first captain. He is the only remaining active founding member of the service.
The Springs Fire Department began to think about establishing its own ambulance service in 1977, 12 years after the department itself was founded. Back then, the East Hampton Village Ambulance Association provided service to Springs residents, and Mr. Davis, who had become an E.M.T. in 1974, was a member, one of about 20 people from Springs serving with the village association between 1975 and 1978. The association had just two ambulances at the time and was making a lot of calls to Springs, sometimes taking as much as 20 to 25 minutes to get there.
“We thought we could do a better job,” Mr. David said.
But the Springs board of fire commissioners, which oversees the fire department, was initially reluctant. The chairman told the members to go out into the community to gauge support.
“And we did. A number of us went out door to door,” Mr. Davis said. A couple of informational meetings were held at the firehouse for the public. Once they had the support — with a big boost from the Clearwater Beach Association — they went back to the board.
Larry Miller, who became chief in May 1978, supported the initiative, as did his assistants, Fred Overton and Chuck Miller. “We were absolutely sure we were going to need women in the fire department to run with the ambulance,” Mr. Davis said — and many of the East Hampton Ambulance Association members were women. Traditionally, the fire departments were fraternal organizations, and, expecting a bit of resistance, the three men came up with the idea to form a separate ambulance company within the department.
In July 1978, seven fire department members transferred to the newly formed ambulance company; Mr. Davis, Marvin Bennett, Walter Briand, Paul Lane, Richard File, Howard Brown Jr., Benjamin Miller Sr. Most were civil servants out of district during the day, but Mr. Bennett and Mr. Briand were self-employed, and Mr. Miller worked for Schenck Fuel, which allowed him to leave for calls. They answered a good chunk of the day calls.
Mr. Davis was elected the first captain, a special honor, he said, because when the fire department was created in 1965, his father, John F. Davis, was the first captain.
“We had about six months to get our act together,” Mr. Davis recalled. “Now, you’ve got to remember, this is July. We’re taking over the district January 1. We haven’t even scoped out an ambulance yet!”
The first women in the Springs Fire Department joined its ambulance company in October 1978, Mr. Davis said. “Five or six joined at the same time,” he said, rattling off a few of their names, including his wife, Nina Davis, Sheila Downes, and Jane Maxsie White.
A brand-new ambulance arrived just three weeks before they began answering calls on Jan. 1, 1979, Chief Downs said.
“We didn’t have to wait very long for our first call,” Mr. Davis remembered. The members were down at the firehouse on New Year’s Day when it came over. “I don’t think we were there five minutes before the tones went off. And it happened to be my uncle. He had fallen.”
“It was something that didn’t seem like a big deal at the time. In retrospect, it was a major, major move in the fire department,” Mr. Davis said. In that first year, they answered 210 calls with the one ambulance.
Initially, Mr. Davis thought it would take five years to get the ambulance company running smoothly. Instead, when it came time for elections in April 1980, just two years after the company was formed, he stepped down because it was running so well.
“The people that served in that ambulance during those first two years did some fantastic job,” he said — “so much with basically so little.” There were only four or five E.M.T.s to start, but they trained everyone in basic first aid. “They were a great bunch of men and women who were dedicated to it.”
While Mr. Davis is still in the fire department, he gave up his E.M.T. certification in 1984 when he became a chief. He drove the ambulance, though, until several years ago. He mentioned Mike Collins, a department charter member and then a firefighter, who was one of the first to ask what he could do to help. Told he could be a driver, he simply answered, “I’ll try.”
“That was in 1978, and he’s still making the calls. I’d be very surprised if it’s less than 70 percent of the calls,” Mr. Davis said.
In 1981, Mr. Overton became chief and addressed what had become a lack of communication between the two companies by bringing the ambulance company back into the fold. By then, Mr. Davis said, “The guys were used to having the ladies around.” The Springs Fire Department remains as one universal Company Number One.
Mr. Davis served as chief from 1988 to 1990, after four years in the assistant chief roles.
Chief Downs presented Mr. Davis and Karen Haab, the ambulance company lieutenant, and Kim Paige, second lieutenant, with a plaque in appreciation of 40 years of dedicated service
Also that evening, Chief Downs honored Jim Gledhill, who has decided not to renew his E.M.T. certification, for 44 years of service, 38 of them with the Springs Fire Department.