Atlantic Highlands First Aid Squad

The Atlantic Highlands First Aid & Safety Squad is the model of what an all-volunteer independent Emergency Medical Service and rescue organization should be: Active, progressive and responsible to the community.

It does so through training, planning and an extensive public relations campaign that constantly puts the name and the image of the squad before the public it serves.

The organization was founded in 1929 as a branch of the Atlantic Highlands Fire Department. Since it was the only First Aid Squad in the area, it serviced several surrounding towns. Eventually, the organization was split from the Atlantic Highlands Fire Department and remains an independent squad, which works hand in hand with the fire department.

The squad responds to roughly 400 calls a year, ranging from bloody noses to car accidents to emergencies on the water. Members devoted more than 3,000 hours of their time to training and responding to calls in 2008.

Atlantic Highlands is a small town extending in from Sandy Hook Bay into the small foothills of Monmouth County. Just over 4,700 people call the borough home, but every day thousands of other commuters, recreational boaters and fisherman pass through to take advantage of the area's commuter ferry service and the one of the largest municipal harbors on the East Coast.

Members of the Atlantic Highlands First Aid & Safety Squad are dedicated to the community and to training for the potential emergencies they may face. Because of the borough's location on the Navesink River, and it being home to a commuter ferry service, the harbor has also been cited by county EMS officials as a primary drop-off point for Mass Casualty Incidents (MCI) and as an evacuation point for a disaster in New York City – just 10 miles away via the water. The borough served that purpose Sept. 11, 2001, and was also identified as an evacuation point for the 2004 Republican National Convention in New York City.

The squad trains for such situations as it planned and participated in a major MCI drill in the fall of 2008. The squad is responsible for deployment of a Monmouth County MCI trailer. And, because of the squad's advanced training, it is one of three in Monmouth County that is part of the statewide New Jersey EMS Task Force as a squad.

The squad's vehicles are counted among the potential assets for any NJEMSTF activation. In 2007, the squad responded to floods in Bound Brook, NJ for the EMSTF and took part in a large-scale disaster drill within the transit hub in Jersey City, NJ and would be called upon should there be an MCI event.

Locally, the squad has jurisdictional responsibility for vehicle extrication, cold water, ice and surface rescue operations, and firefighter rehab operations within the borough.

The squad does this with a complement three ambulances staffed by fully-trained EMT-Bs, some with nearly 20 years of service, and first responders. Moreover, because the town is home to a highly-active year-round municipal harbor more than half the squad is trained as Ice Rescue Technicians and Cold Water Rescuers and others are trained in Ice Rescue Operations. Understanding the potential for water emergencies, in recent years the squad has acquired an 18-foot Boston Whaler, which combined with a 12-foot Zodiac form the Marine Rescue Unit.

While the dedicated men and women of the AHFAS are trained and prepared for all types of medical incidents, they're also aware that the role of a community EMS organization isn't only to splint broken bones. Trained squad members provide free or low-cost CPR and First Aid classes to local community groups. Seeing a need to have coaches and counselors for the local Recreation Department trained in CPR and First Aid, the squad developed a plan to get all necessary personnel trained and on a regular cycle of recertification. Members of the organization routinely visit local schools and community groups to make talk about safety and the need of a volunteer EMS organization in town.

And, every December the squad stages annual Santa Runs, in which they pull Santa and his sleigh throughout the town, thus giving residents, especially younger residents, a chance to interact with the EMS organization in a non-emergency situation.

To further serve the community, the squad has launched its own website www.ahfirstaid.org as another outreach tool. Members attempt to staff every local craft fair and community event with an ambulance to increase visibility. And, the squad issues several media alerts throughout the year to inform the community about AHFAS activities.

The outreach and promotional efforts have a two-fold effect. Such activities increase the visibility of the squad and also improve the morale of those who are giving their time willingly and for free to help their friends and neighbors.

And that's what one should expect from a volunteer organization. One that reacts to special and individual needs of the community through squad training and being part of the community it serves.