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Manhasset-Lakeville Volunteer Fire Department Searching For More Heroes

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Volunteers with the Manhasset-Lakeville Volunteer Fire Department attended the National Night Out event at Whitney Pond Park earlier this month. (Photo by Jennifer Corr)

Residents of Manhasset and nearby communities may have noticed that EMTs and fire fighters with the Manhasset-Lakeville Volunteer Fire Department have been in attendance at community events like Manhasset Chamber of Commerce’s Al Frescos and the National Night Out at Whitney Pond Park earlier this month.

The group of volunteers are currently looking to add more community members to their team in order to better respond to local emergencies. The department covers a large residential area, a large commercial area and portions of the Long Island Expressway and the Northern State Parkway, meaning that the type of calls that EMTs and firefighters respond to can vary.

“We respond to many types of emergencies that you can think of: fire, rescue, car accidents, heart attacks, amputations,” Michael Rice, the chief of the department, said. “You call us, we are there.”

The Manhasset-Lakeville Volunteer Fire Department is looking to recruit as many members as possible to serve with EMS or the five fire companies within the department. The department does offer a junior program for teenagers between the ages of 13 and 17 where they can receive training. Once they turn 17 they have the option of joining the EMS unit or one of the five fire companies.

But people of all ages can join the department as long as they can pass a physical. In fact, the department is especially searching for members who have settled in the community and would be willing to serve for years to come. “I know traditionally people have looked the volunteer fire department as a younger person’s type organization to grow in and develop as you get older,” Joesph Antonelli, the deputy chief of the department, said. “But, we are very open to people of all ages. We recently had some people who are closer to middle age join and it really worked out well.”

Those interested in joining should call the department, or fill out a form on the department website. Once contacted by a representative from the EMS or one of the five fire companies, recruits will fill out an application and, if accepted, go through frequent trainings. They will go to fire school in Bethpage, a 13-week program on Friday nights. After a year, the recruit can progress into what they want to do for the department, whether it’s fire fighting or serving as an EMT.

“For an EMT, the path is a little different than the fire fighter’s,” Lee Genser, the ambulance unit captain said. “We’ll train you initially in house and in CPR and using a defibrillator and there are weekly trainings where we will familiarize you with equipment on the ambulance and generally how to use it. Then you go to a New York State EMT class which will give you your certification. That class typically meets two nights a week for three hours at a time. It’s about eight months long.”

The EMT and fire fighting training are both completely free, Genser added.
When asked if the process of joining the department is a sizable commitment and undertaking, leaders within the department all agreed. There are a lot of hours that go into training and from there serving the community. However, the commitment is worth it and often times recruits will immerse themselves in the process.

There are also many added benefits to being a part of the department, including a strong sense of community.

“I’ve been in it for 34 years now and I have had some of the best times of my life, some of the best friends I’ve made in it and I think it’s a little different than anything else,” Greg Weisburd, the deputy chief of the department said. “At the end of the day, we are always a team. We’re training as a team, we eat as a team or a group, we have meetings as a group and when we go into something that’s possibly life threatening, I think it’s in the back of your mind always that someone’s going to help you if you need help. That’s where that really strong relationship goes.”

And for the junior members of the department, Weisburd said, often teenagers who do not get along or are in different groups within their middle or high schools become friends as they train.

Another lesson people can learn by joining the department, whether as an EMT or a firefighter, is staying “cool under pressure,” Antonelli said, as well as problem solving.
“At the end of the day we are being called because there’s a problem and that problem needs to be neutralized and solved,” Antonelli said. “And in the case of firefighting it needs to be left safe for the people involved, and on the EMS side it’s to stabilize them and bring them to the hospital to receive the basic medical care.”

If interested in joining the Manhasset-Lakeville Volunteer Fire Department, fill out the form on mlfd.com.