By Edward Van Embden
Press of Atlantic City
Copyright 2008 Press of Atlantic City
MILLVILLE, N.J. — Rescue Squad Chief John Redden said he hopes that responding to victims won’t cause anyone in his crew to become a victim.
Redden said he has reached out to the County Prosecutor’s Office for help in teaching rescue squad personnel how to identify gang areas and gang situations so that they can better protect themselves in the future.
There have been no incidents yet, he said, and there have always been precautions in place to protect personnel, but this is in response to recent gang activity in Millville’s center city and 3rd Ward areas.
“It’s fair to say we’re aware that certain areas of town are potential hot zones,” Redden said. “I don’t feel as though our people are targets, but we could definitely be victims at any time.”
While reports that Rescue Squad members have started to carry bulletproof vests and 9 mm handguns in its ambulances are untrue - Redden said he’s heard that rumor for a couple of weeks now - it does not mean that extra steps won’t be taken to ensure the protection of its personnel, many of whom are volunteers.
It’s about being aware, he said.
“We’re just putting our best foot forward in our safety organizations,” Redden said. “We’re just being more aware of our surroundings; more aware of the surroundings we’re responding to.”
A policy referred to as ‘safe staging’ has been around as long as Redden can remember. If the Rescue Squad is called to an assault or a report of a gunshot and makes it to the scene before police, then the ambulance will turn off its lights and find a safe place to park until they arrive.
This has always been policy, he said.
In addition to hostile locations, safe stages are also used when any of the following are involved: communicable disease, blood-born pathogens and roadway accidents.
This, however, does not negatively impact response times, he said.
“Sometimes we’ll head to a scene and have to make the decision that we’re going to have to stage in a safe area,” Redden said. “It’s fair to say we’ve never had to wait to get staged more than a couple minutes.”
Redden said the Prosecutor’s Office is in the process of putting together a gang awareness program for emergency medical services personnel, and he hopes his station on Cedar Street will host it. He expects the program to come together in a couple of weeks.
Cumberland County Prosecutor Ron Casella recently vowed to residents of the city that he would help clean up gang violence in Millville by helping to initiate programs such as a community watch.
“We’re just putting our best foot forward in our safety organization,” he said. “The best action we can take is training ourselves in awareness.”