Princeton Rescue Squad history

The building was dedicated on April 12, 1964, and a $75,000 Building Fund Drive was achieved.

The 1974 project added a larger bay to house the rescue truck and marked the last expansion to the building.

J. Edwin Obert, Jr., the Squad’s first volunteer paramedic, was on the first advanced life support (ALS) call in November 1977.

Increasing numbers of calls and miles driven by the Life Mobile necessitated its replacement in 1984 with a third modular-type G. M. ambulance purchased from East Coast Emergency Vehicle Builders, Inc. at a cost of $52,000.

Adoption of the county-wide paid paramedic program in 1985 resulted in a decline in the number of ALS calls received by the Squad, and an eventual return over the next two years to only Basic Life Support (BLS) care.

In 1991 the Squad replaced the Swab rescue truck with a Mack MR vehicle custom built by PL Custom Body.

In 2002 the first response vehicle was replaced by another former police car, and a year later the Mack rescue truck was replaced with a safer, larger Pierce Enforcer Stainless Steel Rescue Truck for $430,000.

The year 2003 marked the first time the call volume surpassed 2,000, as the Squad answered 2,113 calls for service.

Faced with increased demands on the time of its volunteer officers to run the organization, the Squad hired a paid Director of Operations in January, 2007.

With call volumes continuing to rise, the Squad added a second day crew in July 2008, bringing to five the number of full-time EMTs.