For full job description and online application visit: https://www.clintonems.org/jobs

JOB POSTING
Posting Valid Until Position Filled
 
POSITION: FULL TIME EMT / Operations Lieutenant
 
Position Summary
The Full Time EMT/Operations Lieutenant is a 40 hour per week position, with regular weekend hours included.  This positions primary responsibility is that of an on-the-ambulance EMT.  In addition to covering ambulance duty, the successful candidate will have secondary duties including but not limited to assisting with new member application and onboarding process; new member orientations; scheduling of EMS members; coordination of new member mentor and promotion process; attend monthly meetings; be first line field supervisor.
 
Minimum Requirements
See Job Description for full list
High School Graduate or GED equivalent
Minimum 2 years active NJ or National EMT experience
Valid Driver’s License
At least 21 years of age
Minimum 2 years Supervisory Experience
Prior Human Resources experience a plus
 
Licensures/Certifications
See Job Description for full list
NJ or National Register EMT
CPR certification by a NJOEMS-Approved accrediting agency
CEVO/EVOC
ICS 100, 200, 300, NIMS 700 & 800
Pre-Hospital Trauma Life Support (PHTLS)
Vehicle Rescue Operations & Technical Rescue Awareness
Additional certifications may be required within 6 months of hire
 
Salary
Salary is commensurate with experience.  Please include salary requirements on cover sheet when submitting application
 
Apply
Applicants can submit electronically at http://www.clintonems.org/application.html or by requesting application via email to opschief@clintonems.org
 
South Branch Emergency Services, Inc. dba Clinton First Aid & Rescue Squad
is an Equal Opportunity Employer

​Clinton First Aid & Rescue Squad answered 4,119 calls for emergency medical and rescue services last year-  an increase of more than 14% from 2018 and a whopping 72% since 2012.
 
  The 4,119 calls answered included:
 

• 2,196 medical calls
• 254 cardiac calls
• 646 trauma calls
• 400 fire department assists.
• 475 motor vehicle accidents
• 67 overdoses, half of which were opiate-related
• 81 community event standbys.

 
CFARS’s 93 volunteers volunteered a total of 23,000 on-shift hours.
 
“To say that we need more volunteers is an understatement,” said CFARS Chief Frank Setnicky. “With more residences and hotels being built, greater highway traffic volumes, and an aging population, we expect this trend to continue.”
 
No experience is necessary. CFARS teaches the EMT course at its own training facility, with a new session starting June 24. The course is free for CFARS volunteers. Prior to completing the course, volunteers can learn first aid and CPR, after which they can assist EMTs.
 
From the sense of purpose that comes from helping your neighbors, to the adrenaline rush of responding to an emergency, to the life-long friendships that feel like family, there are many rewards for those who volunteer. 
 
“If you’re interested in the Squad, but not quite sure if it’s for you, sign up for our ride-along program,” Setnicky said.  “You’ll see first hand why we love what we do.” 
 
 To learn more or inquire about joining or a ride-along, please visit www.joinclintonems.com. Click on “Contact Us & Apply.”

Caroline Fassett
NJ Advance Media Group, Edison, N.J.

A Hunterdon County volunteer organization that answers the call for help is sending out a call of its own.

The Clinton First Aid & Rescue Squad is searching for at least two dozen or more volunteers to join the team, which has responded to emergency situations occurring in Clinton, Clinton Township, Lebanon Borough and parts of Franklin Township and Union Township since 1968.
The organization also responds to daytime emergency situations occurring in Hampton Borough, Glen Gardner, High Bridge Borough, Tewksbury Township, Bethlehem Township and Somerville.

According to Chief Frank P. Setnicky, if roughly 24 individuals do not volunteer for the organization come next fall, the squad will need to increase its number of paid Emergency Medical Technicians to maintain necessary staffing levels.

While Setnicky expressed his doubt that local municipalities would raise taxes in order to acquire funding for the organization, he said that adding more salaries to the squad will “be at a cost to somebody.”

“We want to stay a volunteer agency; we don’t want to become an all-paid agency," Setnicky said.

The squad currently has around 80 members, eight of whom are full-time paid staff members, and around two dozen of whom are part-time paid staff members.

While the squad is expected to merge with High Bridge Emergency Squad on July 1, Setnicky said that the need for more volunteers “will still be there.”

“(The merger) will help but not alleviate the continued need,” Setnicky said.

This past fall, the organization lost 18 volunteers who either left the squad to pursue jobs, attend college or relocated out of the Hunterdon community. Despite its decreased membership, in 2019 the Squad responded to 4,119 calls -- over 500 more than the total number received by the team in 2018, and 1,000 more than in 2017.

According to Setnicky, the rise in call volume is largely explained by the country’s aging population.

“All over, baby boomers are getting old," Setnicky said. "We have a big influx in a certain type of respiratory calls ... But then we also have the nursing homes and the older population in Clinton and surrounding areas that, yeah, they’re going to get sick.”

Recognizing the rising need for the squad throughout Hunterdon County, Setnicky encouraged all interested individuals to apply to become a volunteer for the organization. Volunteers are needed in all four categories of the squad, including in the positions of EMT, rescue associate, water rescue associate, and cadet.

To join the team, all volunteers must complete approximately three months of free training, which entails a 16-hour per week commitment to educational classes and hands-on instruction -- including ride alongs in the ambulance.

Prior medical or emergency experience is not necessary, which enabled volunteers like EMT Mark Black, a full time scientist and medical writer, to join the squad roughly one year ago.

“I know all the medical terms and I can write it all correctly ... (but) I haven’t looked after patients. They (squad) said, ‘No problem, we’ll teach you how to do it,’” Black said.

Black praised the training he received through the squad, stating that he was “never left out to dry.”

“They’ll give you all the lecture materials but also, what I think they do very well here, are accurate scenarios. So you can come in with nothing, and then you’re trained," Black said. “At the end, you still need a lot more experience, but they give you everything you need to function as a team member, and they always send you out with an experienced team leader ... You’re never left alone."

Echoing Black, fellow EMT Carol Dorf emphasized that every squad member “wants you to succeed.”

“I know when I was going through an EMT class, some of the members here would come in on a Sunday afternoon to work with me, or come in at night,” Dorf said. “Everyone supports you, and they are there to teach you all the way through.”

Dorf joined squad approximately three years ago after her children left for college.

“I found out I had some more spare time, and it was time to do something that I wanted to do. I always did something for everyone else; this was something for me. Because you do get a lot of out of it for yourself," Dorf said.

In detailing one of her more valued experiences of volunteering for CFARS, Dorf underscored the immense gratitude she has received from servicing the Hunterdon community.

“A 50-something year old guy, a bigger guy, was really sick. And we pick him up and take him to the hospital, and he’s crying because he’s in so much pain ... And it’s his most vulnerable moment," Dorf said. “And you’re there, and you’re all he’s got to talk to and express how he feels, and he’s so grateful that you’re there to be there with him.

“To hold their hand, wipe their tears, or whatever they need ... it means a lot to (the people we help). And you walk away and you feel good that you were there for that person,” Dorf added.

While the squad typically does not turn away interested volunteers unless they fail their physical, background or drug examinations, Black said that ideal candidates for the squad are individuals who are “able to relate to people.”

“You’re called a medical technician, but it’s more about communicating with that person, and that’s the skill you learn, or hopefully you’re good at,” Black said. “You come into somebody’s house wearing a dark uniform, and sometimes you’re going to look scary. So you got to get down on their level, talk to them and listen to what’s going on."

Dorf added that the best volunteers are compassionate, a trait that she said largely explains the squad’s evenly balanced male-to-female ratio.

“It’s compassion. Listening, talking, being that support for that patient, are skills that anybody, male or female, can possess," Dorf said.
In response to why individuals should consider volunteering for the squad, Dorf emphasized that members both give back to and become more immersed in the Hunterdon community as a result of joining the squad.

“Not only do we run calls, but we do stand by events where you are really in the community. Whether it’s the parades, or the rubber duckie race, or Sprintin’ Clinton, we stand by at all of them,” Dorf said.

Setnicky, a squad member for the past 33 years, described the squad as a valuable addition to any individual’s day-to-day routine.
“You can use it at any place in your life. It’ll help you out at home or in your other job. A lot of people meet friends and they have new lifetime friends," Setnicky said.

Black said the squad has been a “quite fulfilling” experience for him -- even throughout its less eventful moments.

“If you have your normal office job where you’re on the phone and computer all day, you come here, and you’re interacting with people. And for that small window, you might be very important to their life,” Black said. "But you’re not always saving someone’s life or pounding on their chest; you might just be holding their hand or giving them some comfort or getting them to the hospital. But it feels good.”
​
Individuals interested in learning more about or volunteering for the Clinton First Aid & Rescue Squad can visit http://joinclintonems.com/.
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©2020 NJ Advance Media Group, Edison, N.J.

Faced with a skyrocketing increase in calls for emergency help, Clinton First Aid & Rescue Squad is sounding the alarm for more volunteers.  Anyone willing to help is urged to fill out an inquiry form at www.JoinClintonEMS.com. No experience is necessary.

The volunteer-run squad provides emergency health care, rescue from accidents and other dangerous circumstances, and hospital transit in Clinton Township, The Town of Clinton, Lebanon Borough, and portions of Union and Franklin townships. Clinton First Aid & Rescue Squad (CFARS) responded to more than 4,000 calls in 2019 – an increase of 33 percent since 2015 and a whopping 67 percent since 2012.
​
“We’ve seen double-digit growth year-over-year for the past five years, and we don’t see this growth stopping anytime soon,” said CFARS Deputy Chief of EMS Bucky Buchanan.

A shout out this afternoon to the Telecom Pioneers Chapter 99 from iConectiv in Bridgewater for your donation of Build-a-bears home made stuffed animals! These new bears will be added to our ambulances for use with younger children during stressful times.

Per Greg Hachey (Pictured) from the Chapter, "there is nothing better than handing a distressed child a stuffed bear/animal to hold on to".

​CFARS Logistics Coordinator Shannon Giuliani is pictured here with Greg accepting the very generous donation.

Holiday Safety
With the holidays upon us, the Clinton First Aid & Rescue Squad would like to remind everyone of some safety tips while preparing our houses, both inside and out. As emergency responders, we like to occasionally share some injury prevention messages to our community, and hopefully eliminate the need for us to meet after an injury occurs.

Hanging Decorations
Falling while hanging lights or other decorations is a leading cause of holiday-related trauma. If you are so inclined to decorate, make sure you use a sturdy ladder and not items such as boxes or chairs to stand on, never touch electrical lines, and always have someone with you to hold the ladder and be your spotter.

Keep Small Objects From Small Children ​
Small objects are a constant hazard to infants and toddlers. Something as simple as an ornament or that new marble track gift for your young child can be a potential foreign body airway obstruction for the small child.

Fire Awareness
Make sure burning candles are never left unattended. Ensure an adult is present in any room where there are children and open flames. Before burning in your fireplace make sure your chimney has been cleaned, clear of any obstructions, and your flue is in the open position. And never dispose of hot ashes or candle wax in with your household garbage.

We can also always use help!
Volunteers are in very short supply and we have classes starting just after the holidays if you ever thought about joining. More information on membership can be found at www.clintonems.org or by calling 908-735-4012 x126 

Published in the Town of Clinton Newsletter, December 2019

The Clinton First Aid & Rescue Squad is pleased to announce the birth of our newest BLS Ambulance!  We got our first look at our new BLS45-52 has as it hit the production line and received initial paint this past week at P.L. Custom Body and Equipment Co, Inc. in Manasquan NJ.

This unit will be the first new ambulance received in 3 years, and is scheduled as part of our departments replacement schedule. 

Funding for this ambulance is made possible by the generous donations made to our non-profit volunteer-run organization by the community members we serve.  Delivery is slated for 1st quarter 2020. 

If you would like to make a donation to the vehicle replacement fund, please visit our home page at https://www.CLINTONEMS.org and press MAKE ONLINE DONATION NOW.  You can add a designation as Vehicle Fund.