Volunteer Rescue Squad members recall their tenures
By Jason Arndt
Editor
Simon Miller remembered being placed on a waiting list to join the Burlington Rescue Squad.
Miller, who eventually joined the Rescue Squad in 1979, said becoming a volunteer for the nonprofit organization created by the Burlington Rotary Club 73 years ago, was an honor.
“I applied for the rescue squad, and at the time, I didn’t get on right away because there was a 20-person limit and back in those days, there was a waiting list to get on,” he recalled.
“The community has been good to me and this is a way I could give back and help people in need.”
Since then, Miller has served multiple officer positions, including captain, but volunteers have become harder to find.
“Today we don’t have the volunteers.”
The ongoing challenge to recruit adequate volunteers to answer an increased call volume recently forced the Rescue Squad to take the first step in disbanding the service dating back to 1946.
The Rescue Squad’s Board of Directors voted this month to disband the all-volunteer service as of Jan. 1 because the current squad is stretched thin by an ever-increasing volume of calls and a dwindling roster of volunteers.
“We knew that the end was coming and now the city is going to be taking over the rescue,” Miller said. “We are in a period of mourning.”
The mourning, he said, includes coming to terms with leaving an all-volunteer group that has become more of a family.
“It has kind of become like a family,” said Miller, who has seen multiple volunteer generations pass through the organization. “I made many friends in the community because of being a member of Burlington Rescue Squad.”
Rescue Squad EMS Chief Jeff Koenen agreed with Miller.
Koenen, a 15-year member, said the decision to disband was not easy and he will miss helping people he knows in the community.
“It is difficult knowing that the end is coming near. The squad was created by the Rotary Club for a purpose back in 1946. Our mission as a unit has pretty much been completed now,” he said. “I am going to miss the camaraderie with other members and also helping people that I know.”
To read the entire story see the Oct. 31 edition of the Burlington Standard Press.
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