The University’s student-run emergency response organization, EMeRG, will soon begin using a second ambulance which they recently purchased for $25,000.

EMeRG raised the funds for the new vehicle through an 18-month fundraising campaign conducted through the University’s Development Office. University Police Department Chief Dolores Stafford said the second ambulance will allow them to cover campus more effectively.

“We want to ensure that we have 100 percent coverage with no down time,” Stafford said. “The second unit will allow us to meet that goal because we can rotate the units out of service for routine maintenance and repairs.”

EMeRG had previously used one ambulance and a Chevrolet Tahoe to respond to incidents, but city driving caused problems in the ambulance, Stafford said.

“One of the challenges with all of the UPD and EMeRG vehicles is that we do a lot of stop and go driving and we constantly drive short distances because we are in an urban area,” Stafford said.

To obtain its first ambulance – which cost $7,000 – EMeRG was required to endure a lengthy application process for a certificate authorizing them to operate as an emergency transport agency. Stafford said the organization did not have to endure the same bureaucracy to obtain the second vehicle, as the previous authorization allows the group to have multiple units on campus.

Because the group does not have enough staffers to run both ambulances simultaneously, the vehicles will not be in service at the same time. Stafford said the Tahoe, currently used as a response vehicle, will no longer be used for that function. The new ambulance should be working in about 10 days, Stafford said.