HILLSBOROUGH, N.J. — Paramedic James V. Maguire died Monday of an apparent heart attack less than 20 hours after he performed CPR for an extended period of time.
The Hillsborough Rescue Squad posted to its Facebook page that Maguire had responded to a call, near his home, for a patient in cardiac arrest on Sunday.
“Jim was our coworker and our friend,” said squad Chief David Gwin in a statement. “It’s a very difficult time for all of us, particularly the crews that responded to Jim’s house on Monday.”
Maguire joined the squad in 1979 after serving in the U.S. Marine Corps and has been active in EMS ever since. He held positions as a crew chief, lieutenant and president. Most recently he served as the supply officer, in charge of all medical and station supplies.
From 1982 until 1985, Maguire was an EMT with Middlesex General Hospital (now Robert Wood Johnson University hospital). In 1986 Maguire wrote Hillsborough’s first mass casualty incident protocols, and in 1987 he became the EMS liaison to the newly formed Hillsborough Twp. Office of Emergency Management.
Maguire was a Somerset County sheriff’s officer and then a police officer with the Hillsborough Township Police Department from 1984 until his retirement in 2008. He served in a variety of field officer, supervisor and training positions.
After the September 2001 terrorist attacks, Maguire worked on the FBI World Trade Center Task Force Forensic Unit. That assignment led to an appointment as the Hillsborough Township deputy OEM coordinator and Hillsborough’s first municipal counter-terrorism coordinator, where he trained other officers in counter-terrorism techniques.
Maguire completed an associate’s degree in emergency disaster management and a bachelor’s degree in administration of justice. After his 2008 retirement Maguire returned to school for two years to earn his National Registry and New Jersey paramedic certifications. He worked as a paramedic at Hunterdon Medical Center in addition to serving on the Hillsborough EMS day crew.
“We deeply appreciate the outpouring of sympathy and support from around the state as well as the offers of coverage from neighboring squads,” said Gwin.
There will be a viewing Sunday and a funeral Monday morning. Specific plans for emergency services personnel attending will be published as soon as details are available.