By Spencer Parts
In Pennington, emergency medical service arrives fast, and often free of charge thanks to the work of the Pennington First Aid Squad, an all-volunteer EMT group serving Pennington and parts of Hopewell Township.
The squad is now in its 60th year, but changes in the community have left the group short on volunteers.
“It’s hard to get members,” said Jack Ferrar, the 30-year-old captain of the squad. “Times have changed. A lot more people work and don’t have time to volunteer.”
Many volunteer firefighting and first aid forces across the country and in the area are facing similar problems. A recent article in The New York Times highlighted the dwindling numbers of volunteer firefighters. The rise of two-income households has hurt the groups, as well as urbanization and changing responsibilities for volunteers.
In Pennington, the lack of volunteers at the squad means more responsibility falling to Hopewell Valley Emergency Services, the taxpayer-funded service that also provides fire inspections and other services. As a volunteer first aid squad, PFAS by definition does not bill for its services.
The worst-case scenario, one which PFAS is determined to avoid according to Ferrar, would be a shift to a billing model.
‘Ebb and flow’
While unique problems have arisen in recent years, the current struggles may also be a result of cyclical changes in volunteer activity and awareness of the squad’s work.
“I’ve seen the ebb and flow,” said Julie Aberger, 66, who has been with the squad for 26 years. “I think we become invisible to the townspeople somewhat. They don’t see us except in a parade every year, and when they need us. But we’re here. We’re always here.”
Aberger went on to say that in the past the town has regained awareness and membership has recovered.
“I’ve seen this happen and I’ve seen it reversed,” she said. “We’re a very healthy squad, in terms of the people who are here.”
That sense of community within the squad has likely helped it recover from past dips in participation. The strength comes from the shared experience on calls – from sending a team to the World Trade Center on 9/11, to delivering children – and the bonds it has created between the roughly 90 members of the squad.
“It’s not a squad, it’s a family,” said Aberger. We care for one another, we’re very protective of one another. And on calls we back each other up.”
Uncontrolled environment
When the Pennington First Aid Squad responds to a call, they never know quite what will be asked of them. Dispatches are often vague, and members must be ready to provide whatever service is required.
“It’s an uncontrolled environment,” said Ferrar. “It’s just you and the crew.”
Doug Kabay, 65, a retiree who has been with the squad for four years, was reminded of that unpredictability last year, when he arrived at a 911 call for bleeding to find a woman who was pregnant, and whose water just broke. Kabay coached the woman, using techniques he had learned in the class he took to be an EMT with the squad.
“We got her into the ambulance, and the other EMT was watching her has the baby was crowning.” Kabay said. “I was at the other end coaching the mother and trying to remind her to breathe.”
They arrived at the hospital, but before they could transfer the woman to hospital bed, the doctor told them to stop.
“Right there on the stretcher, about twenty seconds later the baby came out,” Kabay said.
Months later, the other EMT saw the woman during the course of her work as a fire inspector, and discovered that the baby was happy and healthy, despite the premature birth.
“That was a very gratifying call,” Kabay said. “That was something you’ll never forget.”
Despite his relatively short tenure with the squad, Kabay has had his share of dramatic experiences. On March 26, he was part of a team including the first aid squad, police, and Hopewell Valley Emergency Services that saved a man’s life who had suffered cardiac arrest.
The 45-year-old man was unresponsive in a tractor trailer, and when Kabay and the rest of his team from the squad arrived he was being pulled out of the cab and on to the ground, where they could administer CPR and shock him with the Automatic External defibrillator.
“As soon as we got him on the ground I started pumping,” Kabay said. “While I was pumping, other people cut his shirt and they applied the electrodes.”
“The AED gave him a shock, and that got his heart going,” he said. “Someone who could be saved was saved.”
In the classroom, on the job
The Pennington First Aid Squad’s success can be attributed to the sense of community and teamwork, but also to the extensive training that volunteers go through. That training occurs through a combination of work in the classroom and invaluable experience responding to calls.
When a volunteer arrives at the squad, they first participate in an observer program, in which they get CPR certified and ride with the squad on calls to see if they are cut out for the work.
“We put you on the ambulance just to watch, and to see if you’re cut out for it,” said Aberger.
The observer program is a new feature for the squad, and is intended to show people what they are getting into before they commit to the class.
The class is 220 hours, and is administered by Pennington First Aid Squad. According to Aberger, the class covers everything a person needs to be providing the wide range of care that the squad offers, but what really differentiates members is the experience they get responding to calls. Some use that experience to go on to careers in other types of medicine.
“It’s quite a job description, and you come out of the class and you’re still green,” she said. “But once you add the experience to it, we’ve produced a number of extremely competent, good EMTs. And I’m very proud of that.”
While every call is different, the way the members feel about their work is consistent. They report connection to the community and each other, and fulfillment.
“I feel that I can go home each day and be comfortable with what I did, that I made a difference in people’s lives,” said Ferrar.
While circumstances today may be less kind to volunteer organizations such as Pennington First Aid Squad than they have been in the past, the passion of the members suggests that it will be serving the community for many years to come.
“It’s been a very important part of my life,” Aberger said. “I think everyone finds out how wonderful it is to give to your community and be part of the fabric of the community.”
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