The Warsaw Rescue Squad needs your help, now more than ever.  The all-volunteer rescue squad is suffering from an extreme shortage of members and is seriously in need of more volunteers to join us.  

The Warsaw Rescue Squad operates two ambulances which provide medical service to the village of Warsaw, Wyoming and the towns of Warsaw, Middlebury and Orangeville, handling about 450 - 500 rescue calls a year. Each rescue call takes approximately  30 - 60 minutes and requires 2 to 4 people per call. The rescue squad is currently trying to handle this with only 7 New York State Certified Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT). Many of our members have families and full time jobs. Several members have occupations that require them to be outside of the community and therefore they are not available for rescue calls.   

Currently, due to the shortage of personnel, about 35 % of our calls or about 165 to 170 calls are handled by mutual aid companies. When an ambulance crew or more specifically an EMT is not available, calls are answered by the following mutual aid companies: Silver Springs, Varysburg and Gainesville Rescue Squads or Monroe Ambulance (Medic 80& 81). Monroe Ambulance is an Advanced Life Support Provider (paramedic) that charges for their service. 

 The Warsaw Rescue Squad was established in 1946 by founding members who had a desire to provide first aid and life saving care for the community. The desire to help still exists today, but if we are unable to recruit more members, we may have no choice but to abolish the Warsaw Rescue Squad. We want to be there for you in your time of need, but this is difficult with our current level of membership in both the rescue squad and the fire department. 

 New York State Department of Health mandates that our ambulance must have at least 1 EMT on board in order to respond and transport a patient. Many situations and circumstances require at least 2 EMT’s (CPR, motor vehicle accident, etc.) and an ideal ambulance crew would consist of 3-4 EMT’s. Because of our current situation we must utilize non-medical fire department personnel in order to respond with a crew consisting of 1 firefighter to drive and 1 EMT for patient care. 

To become a New York State EMT-Basic, you must complete 140 hours of training; pass 1 practical & 1 written exam, certification is good for 3 years. To re-certify, you must complete 74 hours of training and pass the exams again. Training classes are scheduled to begin in January 2008 and are provided at no cost to members.The rescue squad is an organization within the Warsaw Fire Department, so you must join the fire department in order to be a member of the rescue squad.

If you are interested in joining the Warsaw Rescue Squad, Warsaw Fire Department or Warsaw Junior Fire Dept. (ages 14 -18) you can:

·      Stop by the firehall to obtain an application,

·      Print an application online from www.warsawfiredepartment.com

·      Send an email to: Joinwfd@aol.com

·      Leave a message at the firehall (585) 786-2468

For more information or questions, you can contact Joe Cummins at (585) 786-3679