Quick Check Balloon Festival Proves Busy for Whitehouse Rescue Squad

With the annual NJ Quick Check Festival of Ballooning in town this weekend in Readington Township, the Whitehouse Rescue Squad stood by in the intense heat ready to serve its hot and tired residents.

The squad, who also had stand by crews at the station for the majority of Readington Township, parts of Lebanon Township, Clinton Township, and Tewksbury, the portions of Hunterdon County that the squad covers each day, had additional crews on hand for the balloon festival. The crews, nearly forty emergency medical technicians in total, stood by each moment the festival was active at the airport. There were basic life support crews, rescue services unit members, and the squad’s EMS bike team, used to quickly arrive at a patient’s side in busy or congested scenes. Advanced Life Support crews from Hunterdon Medical Center were on site at times to assist with serious calls.

The festival brought with it 366 patients. While 280 of them were minor in nature, 86 were serious. Most were related to the intense heat.

Jeff Herzog, the squad’s Chief, said, “The majority of our patients were heat related, and at times, our staff was very busy treating the influx of patients during the hot afternoon.” At one point, every cot was filled with patients at the treatment area. Sunday proved to be the busiest of the days for the rescue squad.

The squad was assisted by mutual aid squads that sent crews to the festival during peak hours. The Clinton, Flemington, High Bridge, Somerville, and Hillsborough First Aid and Rescue Squads were on site.

The squad, located on Route 523 in Whitehouse Station, is always looking for members. Information can be found at www.whitehouserescue.com.