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Squad News
We want you to be informed
Response time to 911 calls: Since January, 2007, when we began formally tracking our response time, the average time from dispatch to our ambulance being on the road to the call was less than a minute and a half when we are on duty. For backup (second) calls when crews must respond from home, the average time is about four and a half minutes. We rarely have to ask for assistance from another town for backup calls and never for the first call.
Availability of Members: Although we share with most other volunteer squads a shortage of members that can ride during the day, we have been successful in attracting members for the hours that we are on duty; every night from six to six and all day on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. We regularly are called on to dispatch two ambulances at once and occasionally, we have all three in service.
Skills of Members: The Department of Health is considering requiring that two certified EMTs be on all 911 calls. All of our duty crews already include two certified EMTs. Additional crew members ride with them for training and to assist. On occasion, we will dispatch a backup ambulance with one EMT and a CPR certified driver, to insure a rapid response.
State-wide Reporting: The Department of Health has indicated that new regulations will require that all EMS agencies, including volunteer squads, will be required to report call summary information to them so that various benchmarks can be monitored. Our records system already meets the state specifications for reporting. Additionally, we participate in a program of annual inspection of the medical equipment on our ambulances that is coordinated by the New Jersey State First Aid Council.
Cost: One item that is not addressed in the state report is the dollar value of the service that is provided by volunteer squads. We estimate that billing for the twelve hundred calls per year that we answer would approach a half a million dollars, were we to charge the going rate for our services. That is many times our cost of operation.
Our ability to exceed state standards at minimum cost results from the commitment of more than forty volunteer members of the Rescue Squad and a community that supports us, especially those exceptionally generous people who have funded the modernization of our equipment in recent years. We know we have to try every day on every call to satisfy community expectations and that's what we intend to do.
We hope that in turn, especially in these difficult economic times, community members will remember that we can't exist without their support.