 Credit: WEFAS To the Community, It is my great honor to represent the West Essex First Aid Squad as its Captain. We are a totally VOLUNTEER emergency medical service agency that has served the residents and businesses of Caldwell, Essex Fells, Fairfield, North Caldwell and West Caldwell for eighty years.  David Black Credit: WEFAS My journey to this place may be a little unique. I joined while my children were teenagers and I had the time to commit to obtaining my Emergency Medical Technician certification. While EMT training was not easy, I found it very rewarding. The classes included over 200 hours of in-class and hands-on training. All this was followed by the need to pass a rigorous written and practical skills exam required for certification. In order to maintain my license, I am required to take additional training as well as re-certify every three years. You may ask, “Why do all this for no compensation?” I say, “How can I not give back?"  Photo: Carolyne Volpe Curley With all the good fortune we have living in our communities, there is no greater gift than the gift of Service. Whether it is holding the hand of an elderly patient who is not feeling well or bandaging a child or saving a life utilizing my CPR skills, it is all about giving back. During your daily routine, please remember and thank my true heroes, the other members of WEFAS that I am honored to serve with. They give up their nights, their weekends, their holidays and their special family events to service our communities 24/7, every day of the year! Again, we are all volunteers and our payment is the satisfaction of making a difference; the satisfaction of being of service.  Photo: Carolyne Volpe Curley I hope you have noticed that the common theme here is Service. Strange that such a small word represents so much impact in the lives of so many. Yet all the service of our members would not be possible without the generosity of your donations. ALL funds received are used for our operations:
To make a donation to the West Essex First Aid Squad, please click here.  Credit: WEFAS Finally, please consider joining our family. We currently have approximately 120 members with ages ranging from 16 to 90. It is time consuming and difficult at times, but the personal rewards are priceless. Personally, I have been honored with a “Life Member” award, responded to over 4000 calls and have made lifelong friends through my membership. I could go on but if you want to learn more, just ask any of my members about their involvement and why they joined. To become a volunteer with the West Essex First Aid Squad, please click here. Thank you and I'm looking forward to many more years serving the communities that we all call home.
Sincerely, Dave Black by Carolyne Volpe Curley / Carolyne@WestEssexNOW.com Published 9:11am  FAIRFIELD, NJ - Fairfield Police Chief Anthony Manna reported today that a near fatal drowning of a 9-year-old boy was averted because of the quick actions of a LaQuinta hotel guest, Randolph Tajada-Perez, 37, from Hazelton, Pennsylvania. Last night at about 6:37pm, all on-duty Fairfield officers responded to the hotel's pool area on reports of a boy who had been underwater in the pool. They were soon met by members of the West Essex First Aid Squad. "When the officers arrived, the boy was out of the water and CPR had been undertaken," Manna explained. According to Manna, a family from Paterson, which included five children ranging in ages from 1 to 9-years old, were all in the shallow end of the pool together. At some point, the oldest began to struggle and eventually ended up under the water in the deep end of the pool. Neither of the adults, who had been focused on the younger children, knew how to swim and the male ran to the front desk to get assistance. At that same time, Tajada-Perez was checking in at the front desk and without hesitation immediately responded to the pool area. "Tajada-Perez, who himself does not know how to swim, As of Friday morning at 8:30am, the child was listed in stable condition. "Anyone who has a fear of water and
Published 12:32pm  Credit: Hackensack University Health Network CALDWELL, NJ - Last Spring, on a mildly warm and quiet Thursday, June 5 afternoon, Caldwell Police Sergeant Fred Arnold was on duty driving along Ravine Avenue in his patrol car when he experienced a cardiac event. An alert Caldwell resident, Mark Sauer, was following along behind Arnold when he noticed that the patrol car was driving erratically and he notified the police dispatcher; immediately Caldwell and West Caldwell officers were sent to the scene. In the short time it took for the First Responders to arrive, Arnold was able to remain in control of the vehicle, steering it out of traffic's way and allowing it to rest at a utility pole. The officers found Arnold inside of his vehicle unconscious and unresponsive. They removed him from the patrol car and immediately began life-saving measures, soon assisted by the West Essex First Aid Squad. As CPR continued to be employed on Arnold, he was rushed by ambulance to Mountain Side Hospital; numerous police departments along the route saw to it that the path along Bloomfield Avenue was kept clear of traffic. In a video produced by the Hackensack University Health Network, Arnold choked up as he recounted the experience, of which he has no memory. Cardiologists who attended to Arnold that day, Dr. Domenic Mariano and Dr. James Amato, Jr., expressed on the video that by the time he reached them, Arnold's heart had not been beating for 45 to 50 minutes. According to a local CPR instructor who wished to remain anonymous, because Arnold's body was not breathing and without a pulse he was very much considered dead during that time period. The doctors quickly determined a very large artery had closed due to a blood clot, which made his heart stop. In the "short window of time" that they had to attempt to correct the situation, doctors surgically cleared the blockage, opened the blood vessel, restarted the heart, but still had to wait to see if he would ever recover from the experience neurologically. "So about three hours after the angioplasty, we ran a CATscan, According to the instructor, the fact that the first responders performed CPR for the entire 50 minutes before the cardiac team could respond to Arnold, is what made the rest of the procedures effectively succeed. "When CPR is preformed, you are basically working as that persons heart,"  From left: West Caldwell Police Officers: Corporal Lenny Santiago, Captain Gerard Paris, Patrolman Greg Ruesch and Detective Paul Mazzeo, next to West Essex First Aid Squad Captain David Black and Caldwell Mayor Ann Dassing standing with Caldwell Police Officers: Sergeant Fred Arnold, Chief James Bongiorno, Officer Matthew DeAngelo and Lieutenant Demetrious Andrinopoulos Credit: Caldwell Police The community later recognized the First Responders who came to the aid of Sergeant Arnold that day: First Responders Recognized Caldwell Police Officers
West Caldwell Police Officers
West Essex First Aid Squad
"In the case of someone having a heart attack  Credit: Hackensack University Health Network  Credit: Mark Vidovich Roseland First Aid Squad Members From left ROSELAND, NJ - Last night at the Hanover Manor, the Roseland First Aid Squad hosted their annual dinner to honor the outstanding accomplishments of its volunteers from over the past year. Present for the happy occasion were Roseland Mayor John Duthie, Council President and Liason to the Squad Michele Tolli and Councilmember's David Jacobs, Rich Leonard, Thomas Tsilionis and Mark Vidovich. Also present were former Mayors Lou De Bell and Mike Pacio, Public Works Superintendent Gary Schall, Roseland Fire Department 1st Assistant Chief Richard Loveless and the borough's Planning Board Chair and generous Squad patron, Lou Lasalle. Squad Coordinator Joseph Silvia served as Master of Ceremonies. During the occasion, the audience rose to its feet applauding when Roseland's First Lady Lisa Loprete-Duthie expressed how the Squad provided outstanding service in July, 2014, after a 911 call was made on her behalf. The Mayor also thanked the volunteer members for another year of dedicated service to Roseland.
"As a community, we are so fortunate Awards Presentation: CPR Saves The following EMT volunteers were recognized for their participation in administering CPR and saving lives on two separate occasions in 2014:
Serving the West Essex community since 1980, the Roseland First Aid Squad is a completely volunteer organization which provides prompt emergency medical response, care and transportation to ill and injured citizens, 365 days a year. All of their members are New Jersey state certifed Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs), trained and proficent in the latest prehospital emergency care procedures and techniques.  Credit: Roseland First Aid Squad
Published 1:14am  WEST CALDWELL, NJ - The West Essex First Aid Squad has released their call statistics for October. Of note, on Thursday, October 23, the squad responded to seven separate incidents between 6:05 pm and 7:45 pm. The squad is an all-volunteer team and provides 24-hour emergency medical services and rescue (Jaws of Life) to the West Essex area at no cost to the patient. Currently, the squad has four fully-equipped basic life-support ambulances, a rescue truck, and a support vehicle.  October Noteworthy Events The squad participated in the following:
Further Information
West Essex First Aid Squad President: George Carnrick, Jr Captain: David Black 642 Bloomfield Avenue West Caldwell, NJ 07006 973-403-8568 Website
Published 11:01am  Credit: West Essex First Aid Squad WEST CALDWELL, NJ - The West Essex First Aid Squad has released their call statistics for September. The squad is an all-volunteer team and provides 24-hour emergency medical services and rescue (Jaws of Life) to the West Essex area at no cost to the patient. Currently, the squad has four fully-equipped basic life-support ambulances, a rescue truck, and a support vehicle. September Noteworthy Events The squad participated in the following:
Further Information
West Essex First Aid Squad President: George Carnrick, Jr Captain: David Black 642 Bloomfield Avenue West Caldwell, NJ 07006 973-403-8568 Website
Published 8:23pm  Credit: West Essex First Aid Squad CALDWELL, NJ - Just six weeks after the West Essex First Aid Squad was trained to administer Narcan to counter the affects of Opioids (narcotic drugs such as Heroin, Codeine and Morphine), their training was put to full use use. On Thursday evening, a Caldwell patient who was unresponsive was revived through the EMT's administration of the special anti-overdose narcotic. According to WEFAS Captain David Black, the patient was unconscious when the EMT's arrived and less than one-minute after they properly administered the Narcan drug, the patient regained consciousness. "Clearly it was well worth the time and attention that the Further Reading
Further Information West Essex First Aid Squad President: George Carnrick, Jr Captain: David Black 642 Bloomfield Avenue West Caldwell, NJ 07006 973-403-8568 Website
Published 9:13am 
Credit: Peter Nancoz
From left: WEFAS Captain David Black, Stephanie Niemiec, MICP, Tim Enchelmaier, Barbara Ashton, Janice Stickles, Mary Donovan, Jerry Gordon, Matthew Striziver, Linda Piccirillo, Michael Bell, Jessie Bunn, John Taylor, Rosemarie Sutherlin and Jeff Sutherlin Not shown: Peter Nancoz, Dwight Drastal and John Ihling WEST CALDWELL, NJ - Recently, members of the West Essex First Aid Squad(WEFAS) were trained to administer Naloxone, also known as Narcan which is a special narcotic medication used to reverse the effects of opioids (narcotic drugs such as Heroin, Codeine and Morphine). The training was conducted on June 24 byStephanie Niemiec, MICP and attended by WEFAS officers. WEFAS Captain David Black understands that the West Essex First Aid Squad is the first agency in the area to be approved to carry and administer Narcan. "While we hope to never need to use this life saving drug, According to New Jersey's Office of the State Medical Examiner, drug-related deaths have increased from 1,026 deaths in 2011 to 1,294 deaths in 2012. In March,Governor Chris Christie announced that the NJ Department of Health had passed the “Overdose Prevention Act” to allow health care professionals, under certain circumstances, to dispense Narcan. "Allowing first responders to administer Narcan will save lives. To prevent fatalities, the act grants all certified NJ EMTs the authorization to administer Narcan to any individual believed to be experiencing an opioid overdose. The act, signed by Health Commissioner Mary E. O'Dowd, was necessary because the use of Narcan was not currently covered by state EMT rules and the present administration wanted to act quickly in the face of what has been described as an epidemic of heroin-related deaths. "Every minute counts in an emergency overdose situation Further Reading:
Further Information West Essex First Aid Squad President: George Carnrick, Jr Captain: David Black 642 Bloomfield Avenue West Caldwell, NJ 07006 973-403-8568 Website |
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