Nottingham Volunteer Squad Chief Bob McQueen, President Scott Hussey and Jo Anne Hager talk near an ambulance. (Photo by Amy Macintyre.)
By Amy Macintyre
Few people can say they save lives in their spare time, but that’s exactly what the members of Nottingham Volunteer Squad do every day. They are the first people on the scene in medical emergencies and the last squad in Hamilton to perform the duty without money from township residents.
While most members of the Paxson Avenue Extension squad have day jobs outside of emergency medicine, they all share the common desire to help people, explained recently appointed Chief Bob McQueen.
For McQueen, that desire came early in his youth. His sister had a congenital heart defect and as a teen, he watched her illness progress.
“I didn’t want her having an episode with no one there knowing what to do,” he said. “ I watched the ambulance come in and take her at times, so I decided I wanted to be on the first aid squad.”
McQueen, a Hamilton resident, works full time as a chief information officer for the town of Princeton, but on evenings and weekends, he volunteers his time responding to medical emergencies with the Nottingham squad. The 51-year old has been an emergency medical technician since 1983 and has previously worked as a paid EMT.
“I feel it’s important to give back to the community and to help people,” he said.
The Nottingham squad is the last of its kind of Hamilton. Where there were once three volunteer emergency medicine squads, the township now has one and it operates solely on donations. All members of the squad are volunteers and McQueen and the newly elected president, Scott Hussey, 24, are launching a membership drive to recruit new EMTs and members to help in the operations.
The Nottingham Volunteer Squad was founded during the 1950s when it was in the same building as the Nottingham Volunteer Fire Department on Mercer Street. In 1980, the squad began building its current headquarters on Paxson Avenue. Since opening its doors in 1983, the ambulance squad has been serving Hamilton residents and remains the only completely volunteer squad left in Mercer County.
The volunteer squad does not charge for patient care or transportation to the hospital. Thirty years ago, being charged for an ambulance was uncommon across the country, but as volunteer companies disappeared and ambulance services were cut from municipal taxes, for-profit businesses have gradually taken over. A bill for even a short ride can cost a patient thousands of dollars.
Leon Kuliczkowski, EMT and the squad’s treasurer, has watched as the other volunteer ambulance services in town shuttered over the years due to lack of funding and membership.
Kuliczkowksi became an EMT in 1967 after a friend’s house caught on fire and a volunteer ambulance arrived. He talked to the volunteers who asked him to join. He became certified at 21-years old and worked for the city of Trenton as a paid EMT. Now 68-years old, the Trenton resident volunteers his time at Nottingham, where he has served since 1978.
When Kuliczkowski became an EMT, the course cost $100, he said. Currently, the EMT courses in New Jersey cost $1,600, which he and McQueen attribute largely to the decline in volunteer EMTs over the decades.
In addition to the cost, McQueen explains, the amount of hours in training the state requires has also risen making it more difficult for future members to become unpaid volunteer EMTs.
“Back when I became an EMT, it was a couple hundred bucks and I could do that,” McQueen said, “People that are 20 years old don’t necessarily have $1,600 laying around, so it’s very difficult for people to go through EMT training.”
Since the squad only receives funding through donations, they cannot help with the cost of training new recruits. Currently, it has an annual operating budget of about $120,000.
But McQueen is not only focusing on new members, but he’d also like to see donations increase and corporate sponsorship so the squad can keep up with regulated equipment and hopefully acquire new vehicles to help the squad during the many community events held throughout the year in which the squad attends as backup in case of emergencies.
“We’re trying to get fresh ideas and to get sponsors to donate equipment since we are an all volunteer, non-profit organization.” McQueen said.
The squad is also reaching out to area high schools and community colleges to target future EMTs. It currently is seeking observers who can get experience before seeking certification.
Jo Anne Hager volunteered as an observer before obtaining her EMT certification in December 2014. Hager’s husband, Andrew, is a volunteer EMT with the squad since 2006.
As she approached retirement from her position as auditor with the state of New Jersey, she started considering becoming an EMT, but tested out the position first as an observer where she rode along with the EMTs and assisted them with patients.
“Observing is a major learning part of going into EMT,” Hager said. “You’re learning where everything is, your assisting the EMT and your learning the language.”
At Nottingham, observers do everything from riding along in ambulances, assisting the EMTs and writing in charts and documentation for the patients. McQueen says they learn how the equipment is used and how to operate the stretchers. If they are CPR certified, they can perform CPR on patients.
McQueen explained that volunteering as an EMT is also a great way for students enrolled in medical studies or recent graduates to gain experience in the field, as is required in many practices and professions.
“Even though I put out the class funds, I believe it’s worth it,” Hager said. “Even if I don’t use it as a volunteer, it’s still stuff that you can use to help in your community.”
She explained that emergencies could arise anywhere and the skills one learned as an EMT can be will always be helpful at home or in the neighborhood
“You never lose the skills,” McQueen said. “It’s in our blood, we want to help. That’s the way we are.”
At Nottingham, volunteers must work 12 hours per month to maintain membership. Currently, the squad operates from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. during weekdays and 24 hours on weekends. While all volunteers are welcome, McQueen is particularly interested in members who are able to take on a consistent schedule.
Certified EMTs can fill out an application to join the squad online at nottinghamambulancesquad.net. Individuals interested in observing may contact Bob McQueen at chiefsq11@optimum.net. While letters soliciting donations are usually mailed out in February, monetary donations are always welcome. For more information, visit the website or call (609) 586-7790.
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