Penndel-Middletown Emergency Squad started as an idea all the way back in 1958 when Dwight D. Eisenhower was president. A group of eight concerned area residents began discussing the formation of a new ambulance service for Middletown Township and the neighboring boroughs of Hulmeville, Langhorne, Langhorne Manor and Penndel. Articles of incorporation were filed with the Bucks County Recorder of Deeds on March 25, 1959. The first call for assistance was answered on June 1, 1959.
Through the “early years” squad members continued to search for a permanent home before finally purchasing a nearby property at 616 East Lincoln Highway in Middletown Township on April 5, 1968 for $26,950 and establishing Bucks County Station 168.
Six Squad volunteers completed the first emergency medical technician course sponsored by the Bucks County Emergency Health Council in 1974. Within a few years the Council began training some emergency medical technicians as paramedics to provide enhanced advanced life support care.
In the mid-1980s many of the volunteer members who had been able to cover the daytime hours during the Monday-Friday workweek (mostly steelworkers) saw their jobs change and the ability of the Squad to stay in service was tested. The Squad hired full-time career employees in 1989 which started a trend that would accelerate in the decades to come. As volunteer availability dropped during weekdays and the call volume continued to increase, a transition from primarily volunteer to primarily paid EMT/Paramedic crews occurred.
As early as the 1990s the need became apparent for a second Squad facility in the northern portion of Middletown Township. After several different concepts, a temporary substation was built on property formerly of Styer’s Orchards. This substation was designated as Station 167 and officially started serving the community on June 1, 2004. A much larger, permanent home known as the Middletown North Station in combination with Middletown Township and the Langhorne-Middletown Fire Company was constructed in 2008 and opened to serve the public in 2009.
Expansion has continued at Station 168/squad headquarters over the years to include an addition to the existing bunk room, the widening of the garage to accommodate larger ambulances, and the enlarging of the billing office. A second story addition was finished in 2010 to create much needed office and meeting space.
Throughout 2025 the squad is investing in further improvements to include replacing failed commercial A/C units, repaving the side parking lot/access road, and updating our Oxygen cascade system. Many of these improvements were made possible through grant funding from the municipalities we serve.
Looking back over the past 66 years, the squad is lucky to have enjoyed so much success. We are excited for the future and hope to “grow with the times” into the second half of the 2020 decade and beyond!