Antrim Ambulance received a donation from a resident that came with two requests — that they remain anonymous, and that the donation be used to send a candidate to emergency medical technician (EMT) class.
That candidate is Antrim firefighter Nick Taber. Taber, 27, who started as a volunteer firefighter for Antrim in January 2019, works full-time for Osram Sylvania in Hillsborough. The Antrim Fire Department is a call department, which means volunteers are on call at all times.
Taber said he wanted to become a firefighter since his childhood and that he loves working with his fellow firefighters in Antrim.
“It was something completely new to me, but I’d always wanted to become a firefighter,” said Taber. “It was one of those childhood dreams and being able to do that once graduating from school was important to me.”
In New Hampshire, having an EMT certification is a minimum qualification to provide emergency medical services. During the early days of the pandemic, Taber said it was difficult finding people to staff the ambulances because of health concerns.
“With COVID we took a big hit with available people, which is understandable, so myself and a few other guys stepped up and were driving as much as we could,” he said. “We did our best to make sure the ambulance could still get out.”
Antrim Ambulance operates two Advance Life Support ambulances and responds to more than 450 calls for emergency medical services each year in the towns of Antrim and Bennington as well as mutual aid response. At present, the department has 11 nationally registered EMTs at various levels of certification.
Antrim Fire Chief Marshall Gale said a shortage of EMTs nationally and in New Hampshire makes the donation to send Taber to school all the more meaningful.
“Recruitment and retention are probably on going in every department throughout the country in order to keep adequate staffing,” Gale said, adding that becoming an EMT is a big commitment because of full-time work schedules. “Once you finish class and are successful in passing all your exams to become a licensed provider, the training and continuing education never stop. [Nick’s] commitment to take the test is a big commitment.”
EMTs must be recertified every two years, and depending on the level of certification, a certain number of hours of continuing education and skills verification are required.
“Antrim Ambulance strives to provide the best training and equipment to our personnel so we can provide the very best services possible,” Gale said. “We contract with an instructor who comes in over the course of the year to provide our continuing education and skills verification, and we are fortunate to have been able to pick up some new members. A big plus with a couple of them is their daytime availability.”
Daytime calls can be the most-problematic for call departments, Gale explained, because a lot of firefighters work out of town and a lot of employers don’t have the flexibility to let members leave work to respond to calls.
But this hasn’t been the case for Taber.
“I enjoy helping people, but my work schedule is a little weird,” said Taber, who works second shift at Osram Sylvania, where he serves as a first-responder on their hazardous-materials and first-response team. “They have been super-supportive about the fire department. Without their support I wouldn’t be able to do this.”
The cost and availability of EMT classes – which can be as much as $1,500 – combined with the difficulties of full-time work schedules, are becoming an issue for those interested in becoming an EMT, Gale said.
“Receiving the donation from the local resident was extremely beneficial for us to help send a candidate to EMT class and hopefully this will create interest in more people who would like to help serve their community,” he said. “Every year we are seeing an increase in the number of EMS calls, which adds to the problem of being able to provide adequate service.”
Taber, who would like to become a full-time firefighter in the future, said taking the EMT course was a big hurdle because of the mandatory hours for the program, which can range from 160 to 180 hours over several months. His next step, he added, will be to become certified as a Type 1 firefighter and then to become an advanced emergency medical technician (AEMT).
“I like being able to give back,” Taber said. “I’m kind of a homebody, but helping others gets me out of my shell and it really nice.”