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North Jersey ambulance corps face volunteer crunch

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North Jersey ambulance corps face volunteer crunch
Sunday, August 25, 2013    Last updated: Sunday August 25, 2013, 9:44 AM
BY  REBECCA BAKER
STAFF WRITER
The Record

North Jersey ambulance corps’ struggles to fill their volunteer ranks were made painfully clear recently when a critically injured elderly woman had to wait a half-hour for a Moonachie ambulance to arrive because there were none available in her hometown of Hasbrouck Heights.

MICHAEL KARAS/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
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Teaneck Volunteer Ambulance Corps members Emely Santana of Teaneck and Pete Philomey of Edgewater, on duty.

Police and paramedics cared for the woman until the ambulance arrived. But Hasbrouck Heights Fire Chief Richard Giarratana said the borough was stymied because its ambulance corps is down to just five volunteers, none of whom were available when the woman fell in the morning.

“You know,” he said, “we try.”

It has been a daunting task for volunteer ambulance squads to find dedicated people willing to go through hundreds of hours of training to work dozens of hours a week caring for the sick and injured for no pay. It has become worse in recent years, as the rising cost of living in North Jersey has drained the pool of prospective volunteers while private ambulance companies have lured trained emergency medical technicians away with the promise of a paycheck.

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/220977221_LOCAL_ISSUE__AMBULANCE_CORPS__CHALLENGES_A_call_for_volunteers.html#sthash.hgI9mSo3.dpuf

3 thoughts on “North Jersey ambulance corps face volunteer crunch

  1. Try getting volunteer firefighters. Same problem. Glad we have a paid FD.

  2. I read the story yesterday. The time and expense of training combined wih the time and expense of volunteering is crazy.

    We do have a paid FD and most are trained paramedics. Maybe in our town the FD should staff ambulances too. They show up at emergencies already.

  3. Volunteerism has been regulated and litigated out of American society.

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