​On January 30, 2016 members and guests of the Jackson Township First Aid Squad began their 62nd year in service with their annual installation of officers and awards dinner.

The Jackson Township First Aid Squad has been awarded $117,605 in competitive Federal grant money under the 2014 Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) Program to purchase new protective equipment for its members. 

The Jackson Township First Aid Squad has provided volunteer ambulance service to Jackson Township for over sixty years.  Formed in 1953, the Squad has almost 100 members, and annually answers over 2,000 calls for service during operating hours of 6pm to 5am, transporting more than 1,000 patients to area hospitals each year. 

The Squad will use the AFG funds to purchase protective items such as helmets, goggles, protective coats, and safety boots for its members.  Every year, the Squad responds to hundreds of car accidents and other dangerous events, both in Jackson and the surrounding towns.  The new equipment will help the volunteer first responders remain safe while providing service to their community, protecting against cuts, broken glass, and spilled blood and fluids.  The AFG grant provides 90% of the funding for the purchase, with the other 10% coming from Squad funds.

Chief Alfred Coucerio said of the grant, “This is an enormous opportunity for us.  We need to keep our members safe, and this grant gives us the funding necessary to do that properly.  Every one of our members will be protected to the level recommended by national standards.”

The AFG program, administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), helps fire departments and emergency medical service organizations obtain the equipment they need to do their jobs effectively, including protective gear, emergency vehicles, training, and other resources that help protect the public and emergency personnel from fire and other related hazards.

The Jackson Township First Aid Squad answered 178 calls and served almost 2000 hours (1978, but who's counting?) of regular duty time during May.  But we don't just answer ambulance calls.  Here are a few other things that Squad members have been up to during the month.

The Jackson Township First Aid Squad has equipped its ambulances with the opiate antidote naloxone, commonly known by the brand name Narcan®, under a waiver issued to basic life support services by the New Jersey Department of Health.  The waiver was issued in response to the large number of heroin-related deaths in New Jersey, especially in Ocean County.  The Squad initially held training on the new medication on April 17, and has now placed naloxone in all its ambulances and the supervisor vehicle.  

The Jackson Township First Aid Squad hosted a two-day training course on weapons of mass destruction on April 5 and 6, 2014.  The class was attended by 28 first responders from agencies throughout New Jersey, including 17 from the First Aid Squad.  Participants learned how to manage injuries from a variety of man-made disasters. 

The Jackson Township First Aid Squad recorded its second CPR save of 2014 on March 29, when Squad members responded to a call of a 29-year-old unresponsive man in the area of Perrineville Rd.  The patient, suffering from a suspected overdose, was not breathing when first responders arrived, and despite artificial respiration his heart stopped.  CPR was performed by the crew while the patient was in the ambulance, until a paramedic unit arrived and was able to reverse the overdose.  As of March 31, the patient was in stable condition in the intensive care unit at Kimball Medical Center in Lakewood.

The Jackson Township First Aid Squad responded to a serious single-car motor vehicle accident on Toms River Road near Savannah Road on March 13 at approximately 10:20 pm.  One patient was extricated from his vehicle and transported to St. Vladimir's Church, where he was transferred to the New Jersey State Police SouthStar helicopter and taken to Capital Health Regional Medical Center (Helene Fuld) in Trenton. 

The Jackson Township First Aid Squad recorded its first CPR "save" of 2014 on March 9, when they responded, along with Jackson Township Police and MONOC Paramedics, to a residence in the area of Stump Tavern Road.  The Squad was dispatched at approximately 12:50 am, and arrived to find the patient lying in a hallway in cardiac arrest.  CPR was initiated by the crew, and when paramedics arrived the patient was given numerous medications in an attempt to restore her heart rhythm.  Her pulse returned and she was transported to Community Medical Center, where she remained in critical but stable condition in the Intensive Care Unit as of Monday morning.

According to the American Heart Association, 383,000 out-of-hospital sudden cardiac arrests occur annually, and 88 percent of cardiac arrests occur at home.  Less than eight percent of those who suffer cardiac arrest outside of the hospital survive.  The prompt action of the Squad members has given their patient a chance to beat these odds.

The Jackson Township First Aid Squad is an all-volunteer, donation funded emergency medical services organization that provides ambulance service to the Township of Jackson, New Jersey between the hours of 6 pm and 5 am every day of the year.  If you are interested in learning CPR and other medical skills, please consider joining us, or making a donation.

July was the busiest month of 2013 so far for the Jackson Township First Aid Squad.  The Squad answered 180 ambulance calls, transporting almost 100 patients to local emergency rooms during the month.  This month included at least 11 separate traffic accidents, including several with multiple patients.  The Squad has answered 1104 calls so far in 2013.

The Jackson Township First Aid Squad joined the Jackson Police Department and the township's fire departments, along with many local businesses, in celebrating the National Night Out on August 6 at the Shoprite on County Line Road.