Emergency Medical Services Week
recognized by freeholders

The Freehold First Aid and Emergency Squad was presented with a proclamation by the Board as it celebrates 75 years of serving the public. The organization is the busiest of all volunteer first aid squads in Monmouth County, responding to nearly 5,000 calls for help in Freehold Borough and Freehold Township.

“Enough cannot be said to express our appreciation and thanks to the selfless EMS individuals who save lives because of their dedication to a special component of public service,” said Freeholder Deputy Director Serena DiMaso, liaison to the Office of Emergency Management. “The Freehold First Aid and Emergency Squad exemplifies the total commitment and dedication responders have for their job. EMS practitioners demonstrate care and compassion to their patients in their most difficult moments. Honoring them for a week is one way to acknowledge their work, but we should really express our appreciation every day.

“EMS Week brings together local communities and medical personnel to honor the dedication of those who provide the day-to-day lifesaving services,” continued DiMaso, who is an EMS responder with the Holmdel First Aid Squad. “Many EMS responders are volunteers who give of their own time. Their self-sacrifice can’t be understated nor their responsiveness taken for granted."

National Emergency Medical Services Week started in 1973 in order to celebrate EMS practitioners and the important work they do in our nation's communities. At that time, EMS was a new profession, and practitioners had only started receiving recognition as a critical component of emergency medicine and its role as a public health safety net. The role of EMS responders and EMS Week is an opportunity to become more familiar with their services.

EMS is now firmly established as an essential public function and a vital component of medical care. On any given day, EMS practitioners help save lives by responding to medical emergencies, including heart attacks, breathing difficulties, a fall or accident, drowning, cardiac arrest, stroke, drug overdose or acute illness. EMS may provide both basic and advanced medical care at the scene of an emergency and traveling to a hospital.

EMS Week brings together local communities and medical personnel to honor the dedication of those who are on the “front line” of providing lifesaving services. This is the perfect time to recognize EMS and all its practitioners for what they do for communities.

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