BY CLARE MARIE CELANO
Staff Writer
CLARE MARIE CELANO Members of the Freehold First Aid and Emergency Squad stand in front of one of the squad’s rigs at the Freehold Borough headquarters. They are (l-r) Capt. Mike Miller, Trustee Bill Madden, President Dave Cranmer and life member Jim McAllister. The squad — which is now 65 years old — continues to recruit volunteers to serve residents of Freehold Borough and Freehold Township. FREEHOLD — The Freehold First Aid and Emergency Squad is in trouble — the type of trouble that will only get worse in the next few years, according to William Madden, who serves the squad as trustee.
On Feb. 6, Madden told Borough Council members that the squad received a 20 percent return on the 14,000 fundraising letters that were mailed to homes in Freehold Borough and Freehold Township in the most recent fundraising campaign. The squad serves both communities.
According to the Monmouth County Planning Board, the borough’s population as of January 2005 was 11,629; the township’s population as of that same date was 34,309. Madden said the squad answered 3,402 calls for service in 2005 (approximately 35 percent in the borough and 65 percent in the township).
He said the fund drive collected $131,000, which just about covers the cost of a new ambulance the squad purchased. The squad received an additional $20,000 in memorial donations.
If this trend continues, according to Madden, “it won’t take a brain surgeon to realize that we’ll be in trouble very soon.”
Madden said many municipalities provide volunteer first aid squads with ambulances and equipment, but the Freehold First Aid and Emergency Squad started out as independent and has remained that way. Madden noted that the borough and township governments make financial contributions to the squad, but for the most part the organization generates its support from the annual drive.
Madden said the new rig was a necessity and in no way extravagant. The squad now has four ambulances and one crash cart. Three of the vehicles are kept in the borough, and one ambulance is dedicated for use by the township crew, he said.
The squad has about 30 active members, plus 20 members of the Cadet Corps.
Crews are on call 24/7.
Madden told council members that the need for volunteers and donations is critical at this time
Councilman Robert Crawford said he thought the fundraising response from the two municipalities was pathetic.
“I think many people who move here from the city do not understand that we have a volunteer first aid squad,” Crawford said. “Most cities have paid squads. They need to know these people are volunteers, not paid employees.”
Councilman Kevin Kane said he understands the commitment it takes to belong to the squad. He said his mother-in-law volunteered for many years.
“I know it takes a tremendous amount of organization to get the funds and the volunteers you need to run the squad. It takes a good team to make it all work,” Kane said.
“I understand your dilemma,” Councilman Mike DiBenedetto told Madden. “This has been an ongoing problem. Anything we can do to help we will do. The money necessary to operate the squad is mind-boggling.”
Councilwoman Sharon Shutzer said it is a shame more people do not respond to the needs of the first aid squad.
“Unfortunately, most people do not respond until you need the squad for yourself or someone you care about,” Shutzer said. “Then you realize its importance.”
Madden later explained how the first aid squad had its roots in the old A&M Karagheusian rug mill on Center Street more than 60 years ago. Many aspects of life in the borough revolved around the rug mill and the first aid squad was no different. The idea of first aid began as a means to assist workers in the mill, according to Madden.
In 1939, the rug mill started a first aid section among its employees to handle emergencies within the factory, which was operating 24 hours a day.
According to the squad’s 40th anniversary celebration booklet, two men in each department in the rug mill were trained in first aid and accident prevention and were on call during working hours.
Those men eventually decided to apply their first aid skills in a way that would benefit the community at large. Rug mill executives donated the use of a small building and a parking lot on Jackson Street, and a group of 15 men founded the Freehold First Aid and Emergency Squad on Labor Day 1941. They raised enough money to purchase an 8-year-old ambulance which was used to transport patients to the nearest hospitals at Neptune and Long Branch.
Madden said there were many years when things were tough.
“Many times, members reached into their own pockets to pay for the gasoline for the ambulances just to get the patients to the hospital,” he said.
In 1947 the squad purchased property on Spring Street and moved its operations to that location. The squad’s headquarters remain in that Spring Street building today.
Madden said Freehold Borough and Freehold Township residents are fortunate to have a squad that has many volunteers who are life members. That status is achieved after a squad member serves for 15 years and remains active in the squad.
Statistics provided by Madden from the New Jersey State First Aid Council reveal that the average length of membership of a new first aid squad member is currently five years.
Madden said squad members are doing what they can to recruit new members. They visit high schools and attend events such as Kruise Night and National Night Out.
At the age of 15, a person may join the Cadet Corps, which dates back to 1963. Cadets are trained in basic first aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation and then have a year to earn their emergency medical technician (EMT) certification.
Madden said the training required to become a first aid squad member is much different now than it was when he signed up more than 50 years ago. All members must now achieve EMT status. The training lasts for 140 hours, in addition to being on call and attending monthly meetings and drills.
A poem by Steven Grellet at the end of the anniversary book sums up what the squad members do on a daily basis in the name of humanity:
I shall pass through this world but once,
Any good, therefore, that I can do
Or any human kindness that I can show
To any human being
Let me do it now. Let me
Not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.