EMS squad auction item ideas that actually sell

For the general list, see our 100+ silent auction item ideas. A squad has one category nobody else can supply and one hard prohibition.

Training, which only you can offer

• CPR and AED classes for a business, school, club or family
• Infant and child CPR for new parents and grandparents
• Stop the Bleed training with a kit
• A home first aid session
• An AED package with training, registration and maintenance

The strongest category in the catalogue: CPR and community training.

Preparedness goods

• A home trauma and first aid kit, assembled to what crews actually carry
• A vehicle emergency kit
• A file-of-life or vial-of-life set for an older relative
• Car seat inspection and fitting, where the squad is certified
• Smoke and carbon monoxide alarms with installation
• A medical ID bracelet and a home medication list session

The kit assembled to what crews actually carry is worth the trouble. It is better than a retail kit, the squad knows why each item is in it, and that is the selling point.

Equipment sponsorship

• A monitor, a stair chair, a power stretcher, extrication tools
• A member's gear set
• An EMT or paramedic certification
• A year of insurance or building costs
• Naming a bay, a truck's dedication plaque, or a piece of equipment

The squad's own

• A station tour and an ambulance walkthrough for a family or a scout group
• A demonstration at a school or a company
• Standby coverage for a community event, where policy allows
• Ride in the parade, or a truck at a birthday party
• Squad merchandise, which in a volunteer district people genuinely want

Everything here is scheduled around operational availability and can be moved or cancelled if the truck is needed — say so on the item page rather than managing it quietly.

Ordinary community lots

Restaurants, retail, experiences, professional services, home services. Most of the catalogue, drawn from a district where nearly every business has a reason.

What must never appear

• Anything about a patient, a call or a scene — no names, no descriptions, no anonymised anecdotes, no photographs
• A ride-along in an operational unit, which is a patient privacy and liability question rather than a fun item
• Anything implying priority in response, at any price, in any framing
• Scene photographs, including ones crew members took themselves
• Medications, controlled substances or prescription equipment
• Anything mistakable for official credentials, including lights, sirens or plates

The ride-along one is worth stating plainly because it is offered with the best intentions. A member of the public in the back of a working ambulance is present at somebody else's worst moment, and no consent from the bidder covers that.

General information, not legal advice for your squad. Whether you are a nonprofit corporation, a municipal department or a fire district service changes who receipts and who owns donated assets — check with your own adviser and your contracting municipality.