Upper Greenwood Lake Ambulance Corps in dire straits, By JoAnn Baker WEST MILFORD In an accident or medical emergency everyone knows to call 911 for an ambulance. But what if there isn’t anyone to come to your aid? The Upper Greenwood Lake Ambulance Corps is a volunteer organization that desperately needs volunteers. They are down to 10 active members to cover incidents 24 hours a day, seven days a week. According to their rules and regulations, each member is supposed to be on call for one 12-hour shift once a week, and one 24-hour shift during a weekend once a month. But with only 10 people, the members are being strained. President-elect Ted Hajeck is serving an encore in the corps. His father, Theodore Sr. started the UGL corps in 1932. Ted joined at the age of 15, along with two other corps members’ sons, as a junior member. He retired in 1984, but came back last year because they needed members. He had to take the 130 hour training course first, to bring his EMT certification current. Upper Greenwood Lake residents who might be interested in helping the community need to take the training course, which is offered in a number of places and at various time slots, and must pass a physical and background check. The corps pays for the training and the uniform, and members receive a small stipend in the form of a retirement benefit. Hajeck suggests joining with a mate or friend to make it more fun. Even though the corps has only 10 people, they are pretty diverse. Tania Grove is a 24-year-old newlywed who is new to the area. Her job is with a workman’s comp insurance company, but as a teenager she was a lifeguard and that, she said, made her want to be an EMT. She took the training and was a member of the Fairlawn Ambulance Corps before moving to West Milford. She and her twin sister joined the UGL squad together about a year ago. Tania finds the service deeply rewarding, of course, but also said, “It’s a good way to meet people, especially for someone like me, who is new to the area.” Greg Kowalenko is also a member of the corps. He is a 41-year-old assistant director for engineering. He once saved someone’s life which became the impetus to become an EMT. He had been working as an assistant administrator at a nursing home in Wayne when one of the patients, an Alzheimer’s victim, began choking on a piece of beef tenderloin. Although the nurses gave her the Heimlich maneuver, they weren’t successful. “She was turning blue, so I pushed the nurses aside and kept working at it until the food dislodged. Watching her breathe and her color return to normal it was a pivotal moment.” Kowalenko agrees with Grove that being in the corps is a good way to meet people. He also says serving as an EMT fits with an old philosophy that says making the world a better place is an easy task make yourself a better person, then help your family, then reach out to the community. “If more people followed that philosophy, the world would be a much better place,” he said. Hajeck is hoping that some Upper Greenwood Lake folks will make a 2007 new year’s resolution to help the community and their neighbors by joining the corps. You can do so by calling 973-853-7210.