University and city officials were on hand for Thursday’s dedication ceremony of EMeRG’s first ambulance, officially marking the end of a nine-year struggle to certify the vehicle.

Though the vehicle itself is 10 years old, the equipment inside is state-of-the-art and will be operated by the student-run EMT service, which is now housed in the old DJ’s Fastbreak building. EMeRG coordinator Marc Berenson said the new ambulance, which provides free transport to the GW Hospital, will better equip EMeRG with the tools necessary to perform their jobs.

“I think the ambulance represents a paradigm shift in the way we run EMT services at the University,” Berenson said. “So much in emergency medicine is predicated on decreasing time.”

Speakers at the event stressed the value an ambulance will add to the relationship between the GW community and the student volunteers, who gain firsthand experience in emergency medicine.

“I have no doubt that EMeRG enhances the education that GW students get,” said University Police Department Chief Dolores Stafford, noting that the volunteer experience is an opportunity for students to practice not only medical skills, but also leadership, communication and organizational skills.

Receiving the approval necessary to operate an ambulance was not an easy task. It took several years for EMeRG to acquire the “Certificate of Need” from the State Health Planning and Development Agency.

“We’re sorry it took so long, but once we had the right team . it all came together,” said Rafael Sa’adah, assistant fire chief for EMS operations at the D.C. Fire Department, who spoke at the ceremony. “We are very excited by this new ability to join with you and make sure the students, staff and visitors to George Washington University are protected.”

He noted that there are 40 emergency transport units in D.C. – one of the highest numbers per capita for any city in the U.S.

Stafford praised Sa’adah’s help during the approval process.

“He was the only chief who was willing to make this happen,” she said. “He understood the value that an ambulance would bring to this group of dedicated volunteers.”

Stafford said she was also grateful to the Foggy Bottom residents, who supported the University at public hearings and who may now benefit from free transportation to the hospital if EMeRG is called upon by the city.

Senior Vice President for Student and Academic Support Services Robert Chernak recalled an injured basketball player in 1999 who had to be transported on a backboard from “the bowels of the Smith Center basement” because the D.C. Fire Department was delayed in responding.

“I can’t tell you how grateful I am to all the students who have participated in the EMeRG program,” he said.

Following the ceremony, the crowd gravitated toward the new vehicle to see Stafford christen it with a resilient bottle of champagne, which shattered amid laughter on its third strike against the ambulance’s bumper.