www.SARS.org - Second Alarmers Rescue Squad proudly serves the townships of Abington, Upper Dublin, Upper Moreland, Whitpain and the boroughs of Hatboro, Jenkintown, Rockledge and surrounding communities

 

Squad named top spot to work

By: BILL DEVLIN The Intelligencer

Ask most people to describe a great place to work and they'll provide a list that likely will include such things as an office with a view, a boss who is not an ogre and a coffee machine that doesn't produce sludge.

They certainly wouldn't describe a job where trauma, death or disaster is part of the workday.

But then again, those people probably don't work for the Second Alarmers Rescue Squad, which recently was named one of the Top 100 Best Places to Work in Pennsylvania.

The Montgomery County unit, which is headquartered in Willow Grove, will be recognized Nov. 30 in Lancaster at a ceremony sponsored by the Team Pennsylvania Foundation, the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development and the Central Penn Business Journal.

Executive director Jamie Haddon said the state recognition is a great honor, but he admitted that he isn't surprised that the ambulance unit's employees feel so positive about the Montgomery County squad.

"We're the premier (emergency services) employer in the area," said Haddon. "In the last 18 months, 600 people have applied for positions with us."

Haddon took over the operations in 2003 at a time when there were fewer volunteers and increasing paid staffers. Today, the squad, which operates five stations, has 123 employees and 100 volunteers.

Haddon said there is no distinction between the volunteers and the paid staff.

"All are called 'members,'" he said. "Everybody is equal. We make a conscious effort to make everyone feel part of what we do."

The ambulance squad has 63 full-time and six administrative staffers.

"Our board and leadership value people and equipment," said Haddon. "You need the best people and the best apparatus if the point is to try to save someone's life."

Anthony McGrail is a paramedic who started 13 years ago as a volunteer and today works full time. He said he loves the work because it's fast-paced, busy and challenging."

"You get to help a wide variety of people - both rich and poor," said McGrail.

What makes the Second Alarmers different from other ambulance units is "the family atmosphere," the paramedic said. "They care about you here."

McGrail said the squad has a supervisor on duty 24-hours a day. He or she is there to ensure that the paramedic have the wherewithal to get the job done.

"Any roadblock that may get in our way, the supervisor takes care of it," said McGrail.

Haddon said there is a paramedic shortage in the area but not at the squad's five stations.

"We are always on status," Haddon said, using the term for an ambulance unit that is staffed to respond to advanced life support and basic life support calls.

Chief Fred Trasatti has been a volunteer with the unit for nearly four decades. He credits Haddon with making the ambulance squad the tops in its field.

"We always knew we needed someone to steer us in the right direction," said Trasatti, who looked over at Haddon. "He is the reason for this (award)."

According to Trasatti, the Second Alarmers is the "busiest station in Montgomery County," providing services to the more than 130,000 in a 56 square mile area that includes Hatboro, Upper Moreland, Abington, Upper Dublin, Whitpain, Jenkintown and Rockledge.

Trasatti said a testament to how great a squad the Second Alarmers is can be found in the number of employees who have remained on the job.

"In our field, the burnout from the job on the average is about nine years; we have full-time employees who have been here more than 30 years," said the chief.

Mark Poling, worked as a paramedic in Oregon before moving east last year. He said he put out "a ton of applications" to ambulance squads in Southeastern Pennsylvania and found work in Lehigh County. There he heard about how great a place the Second Alarmers was. He came down to Willow Grove for an interview and was hired.

"The comfort level here is fantastic," said Poling "This place has a great reputation."