First aid squad president waits for more volunteers
MONOC paramedics responding during day in borough, township
BY CLARE MARIE CELANO
Staff Writer

FREEHOLD - Citing a lack of manpower at certain times, trustees of the volunteer Freehold First Aid and Emergency Squad made a decision in October to enlist the services of professional MONOC paramedics to respond to people who need assistance during weekdays.

A lack of volunteers who are available to respond to emergency calls during the day led first aid squad officers to announce that the squad would no longer respond to emergencies between 5 a.m. and 5 p.m. on weekdays.

The first aid squad serves Freehold Borough and Freehold Township. For the first time in the 65-year history of the squad, people are being billed by MONOC for services that would have been provided for free by the first aid squad in the past.

The volunteer first aid squad is continuing to respond to calls between 5 p.m. and 5 a.m., and all day on weekends and holidays. The first aid squad's services will continue to be free, although in some instances when MONOC is called in to an emergency a patient may receive a bill from the professional paramedic service.

So how are things going?

According to first aid squad President Dave Cranmer, not too bad.

"The bottom line is that the patient is the most important thing," Cranmer said. "People need to get taken care of and if they need an ambulance they must have one."

Cranmer, who has been a member of the squad for 39 years, said he did not think people were aware of the fact that the first aid squad is made up entirely of volunteers. He said he did not think people understood how desperately the squad needs manpower.

Apparently, however, some people did understand the situation.

Cranmer reported that after the News Transcript wrote about the situation in October, seven people came in and filled out applications to join the organization.

"People don't realize that what you learn with the squad is knowledge you'll have for the rest of your life," said Cranmer, who has delivered five babies and helped to save lives through his knowledge of cardiopulmonary resuscitation and the Heimlich maneuver.

"Just a while ago a young girl came into the squad building. She was 18," Cranmer said. "She said, 'Mr. Cranmer, you don't remember me, but you delivered me 18 years ago."

It was a wonderful story and an even better memory for Cranmer, who did not mind going back in time to remember the event.

Cranmer said he initially joined the first aid squad in order to learn how to care for his children.

"You could actually save your own kid's life," he said. "This is knowledge I will have forever. I learned what to do to take care of my kids. And now, if I cut myself, I know what to do or at least I can tell someone else what to do. There are a lot of good things about being on the squad and you learn so much."

The squad president said signs are being placed around Freehold Borough and Freehold Township to alert people of the need for volunteers.

Cranmer said that if the volunteer situation does not improve, municipal officials may opt to consider paying their own emergency personnel to be available during the day. He said other towns have gone this route. In some towns with paid emergency services personnel patients are charged a fee for services rendered and in some towns they are not.

Cranmer said there are about 10 first aid calls generated each day between the borough and the township.