Around the Clock Emergency Medical Services

Twin City Ambulance began as a two-ambulance, four-employee operation in 1955. After just one year, Gerald Clark, a 24-year-old part-time Twin City Ambulance employee and full-time factory worker, cashed in his savings account, borrowed money from his parents, and, with the help of a friend, purchased the company.

In exchange for his original $18,000 investment, Gerry received two ten-year-old ambulances and the use of an eight-foot by six-foot room at DeGraff Memorial Hospital in North Tonawanda, which became Twin City Ambulance’s headquarters. Gerry and his three employees worked twenty-four hours per day, seven days per week, to staff ambulances and keep the company running. In those days, Twin City Ambulance responded to less than 100 calls per year.

In the beginning, there was little medical training. When Gerry talked about the good old days of ambulance service, he said, we were little more than horizontal taxis. As the industry evolved, and with Gerry’s urging, local training became more standardized. In the late sixties, Gerry became one of the first EMTs in the WNY area.

The standard of care continued to improve through the years and in 1985, Twin City Ambulance went online with its first paramedics. Later that year, at age 54, Gerry enrolled in paramedic school. Even though he never graduated from high school, Gerry worked hard, graduated, and became a paramedic. When asked why he became a paramedic, Gerry said, “Because I wanted to understand first-hand what paramedics do. I could not have run the business properly without that understanding.” Gerry continued to work the ambulance well into his sixties.

Until his passing on December 8, 2013, Gerry continued to serve as our Chairman of the Board, and his family still owns the company today.