By Karen Keller, special to the Record
The Record (Bergen County, NJ)
Copyright 2006 North Jersey Media Group Inc.,
HAWTHORNE, N.J. — The volunteer Ambulance Corps is finally moving on up, after a decade of building plans falling through.
The 40 members and four emergency vehicles are expected to transfer from a cramped space at Borough Hall to a new building of their own by the end of the month. The change of locale is expected to help in attracting volunteers to fill a staffing shortage, said Ambulance Corps President Dan Vanderhook.
“Many days we can’t put an ambulance on the road,” he said.
The new building, on Goffle Road between the Fire Department’s headquarters and the Department of Public Works building, will have a final cost of $1.65 million, Borough Administrator Eric Maurer said.
That’s up from $250,000 originally bonded for the building 10 years ago. The increase is the result of inflation, said Councilman Frank Matthews, chairman of the council’s Ambulance Corps building committee.
The Borough Council has adopted four bond ordinances to cover the total amount, but has not finalized the financing yet, Maurer said.
Volunteers currently work out of a single room at the borough hall, which simultaneously serves as a kitchen, bathroom, meeting and leisure room.
The new quarters will be much more comfortable, Vanderhook said, with a full kitchen, a large-screen television and sofas. It’s hoped that will attract more volunteers, he said. Today, there’s often no one to cover the daytime shift between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m., forcing police to call other towns for coverage.
“We had a hard time attracting and retaining membership when your meeting room is your meeting room, your bathroom and your kitchen and everything else,” Vanderhook said.
The shortage of members is statewide, said Sue Van Orden, president of the New Jersey State First Aid Council. More people work more hours at their jobs nowadays, leaving less time to volunteer, she said.
Last year the Hawthorne corps, founded in 1932, answered 1,472 calls and put in 21,109 hours, according to its Web site, hawthorneems.org.
Fast facts
Hawthorne Volunteer Ambulance Corps:
* Members must be at least 16 years old.
* Members who wish to staff the ambulances must be certified as emergency medical technicians as defined by the state Department of Health (state.nj.us/health/ems/index.html). The Hawthorne corps will pay for the 120 hours of schooling required for certification.
* Members are required to be on-call at least 54 hours a month.
* Members staff 12-hour shifts along with a six-hour weekend slot monthly and one Saturday night duty shift every seventh week.
* Members available during daytime hours (6 a.m. to 6 p.m.) are particularly needed.
* Call 973-427-1818 for more information.