Burlington Rescue Squad faces uncertain future
By Ed Nadolski
Editor in Chief
It’s a simple math problem that keeps Brian Zwiebel up at night.
The chief of the Burlington Rescue Squad has seen the number of rescue calls increase without a proportional increase in the number of volunteers to answer those calls. Divergent paths on the same graph leading to an undeniable conclusion:
At some point in the not-too-distant future the electronic tones of a rescue call will beckon and there won’t be enough volunteers to answer sufficiently.
For Zwiebel, who has been a member for 23 years, it will be a sad day in the proud history of the Rescue Squad.
Since 1946, the members of the all-volunteer, non-profit organization have answered the call: Jumping out of a warm bed beside their spouse at 4 a.m. on a frigid February day; dashing away from a daughter’s birthday party; or leaving a client in a lurch.
As important as personal comfort, family celebrations and business connections are, these things most people take for granted take a backseat for the members of the Burlington Rescue Squad, who put their neighbors and their community first, according to Zwiebel.
But the chief is also a realist.
Call volume grows
The squad set a record by responding to 1,540 calls in 2017 and has seen the volume increase by about 100 calls per year in each of the past three years.
The squad is on hectic pace again in 2018 with 508 calls through the first four months of the year.
“At the 950 mark is when most communities go full time,” Zwiebel said, referring to municipalities or fire districts that are forced to replace volunteers with paid staff or contract with a private rescue service.
The level of service and taxpayer benefit the Burlington community receives from the volunteer Rescue Squad is not lost on City Administrator Carina Walters.
“I don’t think words can describe how (gratefully) the city views the Rescue Squad,” Walters said, admitting city government does not have the resources to take on the expense of running its own rescue department.
Mayor Jeannie Hefty, who has been a member of the Rescue Squad for 19 years, said she’s aware of the challenge, but wants to see the squad maintain its volunteer roots – at least in part.
“I want to see it work for the community,” she said.
Most people familiar with the structure of the squad that serves the city and town of Burlington share that sentiment, according to Zwiebel.
But, he said, the true test of that support is the number of people willing to become members of the squad.
“Many hands make light work, but we don’t have that many hands, unfortunately,” he said. “The big question is who can step up and help? We need people to help us so we can help you.”
To read the full report — including comments about the difficulty of mixing paid and volunteer EMTs — see the May 17 edition of the Burlington Standard Press.
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