Princeton Packet
15 May, 1984

Aid squad reports increase in April calls

The Princeton First Aid and Rescue Squad responded to 128 calls during April, an increase of eight calls over the corresponding figure of a year ago. Of these  calls 122 were emergency, dispatches, four were routine transports, and two were standby assignments such as the run for world hunger by the Princeton Seminary.

Forty-four calls were in Princeton Borough, 39 were in the township, and 45 were mutual aid calls, usually requests for the Lifemobile, Princeton’s mobile intensive care unit. Of the 122 total emergency calls, 41 were handled with advanced life support by the paramedics.

One of three patients who were clinically dead on the squad’s arrival was resuscitated and revived and at least 18 additional patients conditions were improved or were stabilized by the prevention or correction of dangerous heart irregularities. Chest pain or acute respiratory distress were the ailments most frequently treated by the paramedics.

Twenty-five patients were treated for this, five for near-syncopal or syncopal episodes (passing out), four had seizures, three trauma patients from motor vehicle accidents, and one diabetic reaction.

During April, members spent 433 hours on calls and drove the squad’s vehicles a total of 1,322 miles. Forty-seven of the 122 emergencies were handled by the paid day crew, usually
assisted by volunteer members.

Princeton’s Lifemobile remains Mercer County’s busiest Mobile Intensive Care Unit outside of the City of Trenton.