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Two PFAS ambulance crews responded to the successful rescue of 3 Hopewell Township police officers caught in flood waters from the remnants of hurricane Ida. Companies from Hopewell Valley and throughout Mercer County responded to the call for help and were able to bring the officers to safety. More on the rescue can be found at people.com
PFAS weathered the storm, and responded to several other water rescues despite having to relocate our ambulances to higher ground as flood waters rose to within feet of the ambulance bay doors. Ida, Sandy, and Irene all came within a few inches of entering the PFAS building.
Flood waters and stranded vehicles in front of the PFAS building. Drivers were able to walk out. Water came to ambulance bay doors.
The observer program lets you try riding on an ambulance before you commit to formal training. It also lets the PFAS see if you are serious about riding as a volunteer EMT before we pay for your course. The observer program was suspended during COVID. We are pleased to announce it has been re-instated and encourge persons interested in applying to click on Join or the Join tab above to learn more.
The Pennington First Aid Squad is in grief over the loss yesterday of President Shelley Pennington. Shelley was only with the PFAS for four years but her impact was tremendous. She was a dynamic, enthusiastic, always positive force for improvement in the Squad. She rapidly moved from member, to driver, to crew chief, to 2nd Assistant Captain before taking over the most responsible role of President. As she noted, if I can fly jets for the Navy and UPS, I can drive an ambulance. She responded to 1064 calls for service in her short time and was the number 2 or 3 responder for 4 years. She was a driver for numerous improvements to our building that made life easier for volunteers. A memorial service will be held for Shelley at the Pennington United Methodist Church tomorrow at 530 PM. Pictures and biographies of Shelley. More about Shelley may be found at MercerMe.
PFAS has had a power lift, self-loading stretcher, the Ferno IN∫X, on its van ambulance 151-2 for 4 years. The lifting and loading feature has been used thousands of times. It has saved much back strain and been a boon for our older and smaller members.
This year we budgeted to add another power stretcher to one of our box ambulances but a generous donation from Kirk and Bonnie Schmitt made it possible to purchase two Stryker Power-Pro XT stretchers so we could equip both box ambulances, 151-1 and 151-3. The first was accepted this week and the second should be installed next week. Some members have been trained already and all have expressed pleasure with the design, operation and weight of the Stryker stretcher. The stretcher has been used on calls.
Members Richard Gordon (left) and Arthur Bogad (right) practice with Stryker Power-Pro while Captain John Muccioli (back) looks on.
We were saddened to hear of the passing of John Matthews, dispatcher 137. John was active with the Pennington First Aid Squad in the 1980s.
We were saddened to hear of the passing today of John Pollock, dispatcher 53. John was active with the Pennington First Aid Squad in the 1970s as a 5-pointer and EMT. He was Monday night crew chief and a delegate to the NJ State First Aid Council.
Residents of the PFAS district in Hopewell Township may take advantage of the Hopewell Township police program, "Operation Blue Angel".
Eligible residents 55 years of age or older and live alone or will be alone for extended periods of time on a regular basis; or persons with a medical condition(s) that could lead to incapacitation and who live alone or are alone for extended periods of time on a regular basis; or live with another individual and meet any of the requirements.
The program consists of a lockbox, which will be owned and maintained by the Police Department, which will be placed on the participant’s door by Police personnel. The lockbox will contain a key to the residence (which the resident must supply). The key will only be accessed by responding police officers in the event of an emergency where officers cannot gain access to the residence. The Operation Blue Angel program lockbox will not be accessed by anyone for any other means.
More information is available on the Township website.
Top row, left to right: Shelley Pennington (President), Kirk Schmitt (Treasurer), Caitlyn Chione (Second Assistant Captain)
Second row, left to right: Naomi McCarty (Vice President), James Li (Trustee), Heather Varrasse (First Assistant Captain)
Third row, left to right: Arthur Bogad (Trustee), Joan Schwarzwalder (Recording Secretary), John Muccioli (Captain)
Bottom row, left to right: Tara Long (Corresponding Secretary), Neal Blackwell (Trustee)
Click on image for larger view
One Monday a month the Cream King, 46 Route 31 N in Pennington, chooses a local non-profit to receive 20% of their sales. PFAS is pleased that we will benefit from this generosity next Monday, Aug 17.
State seals
The Pennington First Aid Squad has operated under the authority of the EMS Council of NJ (formerly known as the NJ State First Aid Council) for nearly seventy years while also meeting the standards of the State of NJ. The PFAS has now also become a State Certified ambulance. The addition of State registration was made to increase interoperabilty of PFAS with other Hopewell Valley and Mercer County Squads. PFAS will continue to meet the high standards of both the State and the EMS Council.
The PFAS is saddened to hear of the passing of William Loveman, dispatcher 49. William joined the Squad in 1972 and was active as a Five-Pointer with the Squad in the 1970s. He was active on the committee that got the Squad out of white lab coats and into orange jump suits.
1975 uniforms and 1971 PN20 Cadillac ambulance
Back, left to right: Mark Washburn, Bernie Maccarillo, Frank Fechter, Jr, William Loveman
Front, left to right: Vince Scannello, Amy Robelard(?), George Vannoy, Edward Antrobus, Ronald Liuzzo, Elizabeth Spitzer, James Johnson",
Back row, left to right: Kirk Schmitt (Treasurer), Neal Blackwell (Trustee), Rob Ross (President), Aaron Bell (Vice President), Art Bogad (Trustee), John Muccioli (Captain), Naomi McCarty (Trustee)
(Front row, left to right): Tara Long (Corresponding Secretary), Joan Schwarzwalder (Recording Secretary), Shelley Pennington (Second Assistant Captain), Heather Varrasse (First Assistant Captain),
The Knights of Columbus Hopewell Council 7103 hosted their 10th annual Shield Awards at Villa Francesco restaurant in Pennington. This event honors local EMS, fire, and police. This year's awards went to Kirk Schmitt (EMS, PFAS), Tom Blackwell (firefighter, Pennington Fire Company), Novin Thomas (Pennington police) and Detective Mark Panzano (Hopewell Township Police). Mark Davis was a guest speaker. He spoke about his book, Through the Water and Fire, recounting his experiences on Swift Boats during the Vietnam war.
Left to right. Kirk Schmitt, Tom Blackwell, Novin Thomas, Mark Panzano
William Goldfeder, well known author, fire safety advocate and Deputy Chief for the Loveland-Symmes Fire Department in Ohio visited PFAS with his family. He began his EMS/fire career in 1973 as a junior member of PFAS. While touring PFAS, he traded stories with Captain Muccioli and Treasurer Kirk Schmitt. He reported that he and Larry Taylor did many of the PFAS daytime calls in 1973 and 1974. Both were 5-points responders. He told us that the biggest controversy he was involved in was attempting to change the knee length white overcoats to something else and can be seen with his waist length version and other pictures under our historic pictures tab.
Left to right. John Muccioli (Captain), William Goldfeder and his son, Kirk Schmitt(Treasurer)
Left to right. Brandywine Executive Director Ellen Moyle presents check to Pennington First Aid Squad Captain, John Muccioli and Treasurer, Kirk Schmitt
