Monday, February 11, 2013
The township commended the volunteer response agencies for improving response times it questioned last year
About eight months after Mayor Bill Laforet questioned the response times of Mahwah’s volunteer ambulance Companies 1 and 4, leaders of the two organizations reported average response times during 2012 that township government officials said were a big improvement. At a presentation last Thursday to the township council, Ambulance Company 1 Captain Greg Antonetti reported that the company’s average response time to all the calls it responded to in 2012 was 12.5 minutes. According to President Bob Klingen, Company 4 averaged an 8.5-minute response time in 2012. Antonetti said the corps could not compare these response times to any in the past, because the companies just began tracking response times in 2012. But, he did say both companies’ …
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
A fire completely engulfed the driver's truck and spread to trees surrounding the highway, police said
A Massachusetts man who burned over 60% of his body in a tractor-trailer accident on Route 287 North in Mahwah Tuesday night remained in critical condition Wednesday evening, Mahwah Police said. Clarence J. Belton, 64, of Chicopee, Mass., likely fell asleep at the wheel of his truck, or suffered from a medical condition that caused him to veer off the road at about 10:35 p.m. Tuesday, Mahwah Lt. Philip Tangel, one of the officers who responded to the scene of the accident, told Patch Wednesday morning. Belton’s tractor-trailer struck another tractor-trailer that was parked on the shoulder of the highway, drove through the guardrail and careened into the woods, he said. “In doing so, he punctured the gas tanks in his truck, and the entire …
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
A breakdown of the township's emergency response to the hurricane
According to the department heads of Mahwah's emergency service teams - the Mahwah Police Department, Fire Department, Ambulance Corps, Office of Emergency Management, CERT team, and DPW - Hurricane Sandy was one of the most demanding emergencies the township has ever responded to. According to Police Chief James Batelli, about half of all roads in the township were closed at the peak of the storm. At least twelve streets and six neighborhoods were completely blocked off due to falling debris. In the seven days during and after the storm, Mahwah police received about 2,750 calls to its 911 and non-emergency call center lines, Batelli said. “During this time period our 911 calls increased over 300%,” he said. “This is probably the highest …
Saturday, October 6, 2012
Postal truck kept driving and hit another car after carrier was thrown from it, police say
A postal worker was injured after he was thrown from the postal truck he was driving to the northbound lane of Island Road in a multi-car accident at about 4:45 p.m. Friday afternoon, Mahwah police said. According to police, a car pulling out of the State Line Diner hit a mail truck being driven by Milan Desai, 47, of Fair Lawn. “The force of the impact tore the door off the mail truck and [Desai] was ejected from his vehicle, landing in the northbound lane of Island Road,” Police Chief James Batelli said. The mail truck continued driving down the road on its own after the driver was ejected, Batelli said. It veered left, hit a parked car in a nearby parking lot, and finally stopped after hitting a utility pole, police said. Desai was …
Saturday, June 2, 2012
After negotiations with township, corps will be restructuring in coming months
Mahwah’s ambulance corps will remain “100 percent volunteer,” according to Mayor Bill Laforet and representatives of both ambulance corps in the township. After about five months of negotiations between the two parties discussing what the exact future of the emergency response system in Mahwah would be, the two sides agreed to keep the current all-volunteer system in place, but with some changes to operations and procedures used by the corps. Several months ago, during a presentation on the issue to the township council, Laforet said he was considering a switch in the system whereby police dispatchers would call a third-party paid service to an emergency situation if volunteer Mahwah EMTs were unable to respond. He said he was considering …
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Residents will join Mahwah's volunteer squads
The Law and Public Safety Institute in Mahwah recently graduated a new class of certified EMTs. The grads include eight newly-certified members who will join Mahwah's all-volunteer squad. According to the Institute's website, the new EMTs were "trained to provide basic life support measures such as patient assessment, treatment of shock, oxygen therapy, use of certain medications, bandaging and splinting and emergency childbirth." According to Co. 1 Ambulance Captain Greg Antonetti, the following Mahwah volunteers were acknowledged at a recent graduation ceremony: Co #1 New EMTs: Jackie Bejko, Diane Hauk, Bob Murken, Susan Murken and Matt Ingis Returning EMT: Charlie CrokerRe Certifying EMTs: Michele O'Toole, JoAnn Rean and Jessica Rein …
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Ambulance Corps event called off
Mahwah’s Company 1 Ambulance Corps. as called off its Cars and Crafts show that was originally scheduled for next weekend. The planning committee released a statement to scheduled vendors "to thank everyone for their interest in the Mahwah Ambulance Corps Craft Show. Unfortuneately due to scheduling conflicts we are cancelling the craft show. We are hoping to reschedule it and will keep everyone updated. We want to again thank you for your support."
Niki A. Silverstein, M.D.
11:10 am on Tuesday, February 12, 2013
I also want to agree with Chuck's sentiments and thank him and all the volunteers for interrupting their schedules and lives to help the people of Mahwah. more ›