Princeton Packet
21 October 2018

Squad sets a record for calls in August

August’s first aid calls were up, September’s were down. The Princeton First Aid and Rescue Squad answered 99 calls in August, and 90 in September. August’s total was a 10-year record for the month. September’s was down from a year ago. Of the 189 total calls. 162 were emergency dispatches, the remainder were standbys or nonemergency transports, a squad spokesman said this week.

During the two-month period 18 patients were treated for chest pain and/or acute respiratory distress. Five patients were treated for allergic reactions to bee stings, three of them acute and life- threatening. Twenty-one patients were treated for injuries sustained in falls and 13 of the calls were for motor vehicle accidents. In addition, there were injuries from a variety of other causes: a stabbing, a construction accident, sports, a fish hook, a fall from a bike, and several instances of low-back ‘injuries, usually from heavy lifting.

The squad stood by or assisted at seven structural fires. Two critically injured patients were transported by the Lifemobile to Trenton hospitals for emergency CAT scans. There were numerous other categories of calls including acute diabetic reaction (hypoglycemic shock), aortic aneurysm, abdominal pain, sick person, overdose, stroke, seizures and “person passed out.”

Resuscitation was attempted on three victims of cardiac arrest, one of whom was successfully resuscitated — a 57- year-old woman who is now alert and on the mend. Through the end of September, this brings to three the number of clinically dead people revived in the field by the Princeton Lifemobile crews during 1981.

In August, 44 of the calls were in the borough. 43 were in the township, and 12 were out-of-town. In September, the totals were 44, 38 and eight respectively. Of the total of 189 calls, 68 were handled by the paid day-crew, usually with the assistance of one or more volunteers. This is 36 percent of the total calls, 42 percent of the emergency runs.

During this two-month period squad members put in a total of 642 hours actually on calls and drove the rigs a total of 2,184 miles.