We would like to thank all the team members who will be completing their officer positions this year, and for your volunteer service.  

Hunterdon County, NJ...Hampton Emergency Squad, which provides emergency medical care in Hampton, Glen Gardner and Bethlehem Township, will merge with South Branch Emergency Services on January 1, 2022, leaders from both organizations announced. The resulting organization will operate under the South Branch name and provide coverage to all areas currently served by the two entities.

“We’re very excited about it,” said Hampton Chief Penny Tampier. “The people are going to get better service.”

Residents served by Hampton are already familiar with South Branch, whose EMTs provide daytime coverage from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.  Currently, Hampton volunteers respond to nighttime emergencies from home, heading first to the station and then to the call.  After the merger, on-duty squad members will respond directly to emergencies. “Response times should be much quicker,” Tampier said.

A decline in volunteers – gradual for years, and recently abrupt – led Hampton Emergency Squad leaders to seek the merger, Tampier said. The gradual decline in volunteer numbers and daytime availability is a problem faced by all volunteer-based emergency services, and what led Hampton to seek a daytime coverage partnership nearly two decades ago. Then in 2021, Hampton’s volunteer roster dropped sharply, from 20 EMTs. Some volunteers moved or went back to college. 

“We want to be able to give the same high level of care that we were always able to in the past, the level of care that people expect from us, and this merger allows that to happen” stressed Chief Tampier.​

​https://www.nj.com/news/2020/12/cant-stop-us-how-the-coronavirus-pandemic-brought-these-first-responders-closer-together.html
By Caroline Fassett | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
​December 25, 2020

A nurse. A science teacher. A gym owner. The head of a non-profit. A volunteer EMT. A wedding officiant. Six people. All linked by what has connected us all in 2020 - the coronavirus pandemic. Whatever we thought 2020 was going to be, COVID-19 changed everything.

As we come to the close of the year, NJ Advance Media asked New Jerseyans to reflect on the past 12 months, and share their thoughts and their hopes for the future. This series of essays, videos and interviews, called Can’t stop us | How Jerseyans adapted, came together and persevered in 2020, continues below.

NJ Advance Media recently sat down for an in-depth video interview with Jason Mayer, a 21-year-old volunteer and EMS lieutenant for the South Branch Emergency Services in Hunterdon County.

In this interview, Mayer reflects on the unprecedented events of this past year that stirred “a big change” from the normal for himself and for the squad — particularly at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, when the world was mostly unaware of what the virus even is.
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“The biggest thing I’ll never forget is my first call with a (COVID-19) patient ... donning all this new PPE that we wear — our gowns, our N95 masks, our eye protection,” Mayer said. “And just going into this building and we’re not sure exactly what we’re up against, and then we’re just relying back on our training and our PPE to help keep us safe.”

By working together as a single organization, the same dedicated group of EMTs and Rescue Associates will bring faster and better emergency care to both communities.

​Clinton and High Bridge, NJ…Throughout each of their decades-long histories, Clinton First Aid & Rescue Squad and High Bridge Emergency Squad have pursued the same goal: Serving their communities by protecting the health and safety of the people who live in, work in, or visit their communities.  Now, with the guidance of local residents, business owners, government officials, they are joining together to create one new organization to serve those communities better.
 
South Branch Emergency Services will officially launch on July 1.  

Discussions that led to this important and necessary step began nearly two years ago. In the face of shifting populations, growing demands on limited resources, and a decline in the number of volunteer EMTs and rescue associates nationwide, the leadership of both organizations knew something had to be done to insure they could continue to provide high quality emergency services for many decades to come.  In January 2019, a Steering Committee comprised of community residents, local business leaders, elected and appointed officials, and representatives from both emergency service organizations was formed. After reviewing current conditions and considering ways to improve them, the committee concluded that a merger was the best option. The committee, Clinton First Aid & Rescue, and High Bridge Emergency Squad, began forming a new organization that will build on the strengths of its two predecessors and seamlessly serve both communities.