United Rescue Jersey City was founded to create a community of trained and equipped volunteer first responders—Community Based Emergency Caregivers (CBECs)—from every segment of the city, all devoted to helping their neighbors immediately, in their most vulnerable moments.  While Americans in most cities need to wait 8-12 minutes for an ambulance, help could be next door. This means that victims of heart attacks, strokes, choking and bleeding— those for whom the difference between life and death will be settled long before the ambulance arrives—have a greater chance at life if a trained medic can get to them fast. You can learn more about United Rescue from the previous interview we did with the team.

The volunteer CBECs have been on thousands of calls since the launch of the program in December 2015, covering every kind of emergency from heart attacks to accidents to overdoses to medical cases (such as difficulty breathing). In 2017 alone, 120 volunteers have responded to 2,500 emergencies. The response times are close to 2 and a half minutes on average, with the fastest responses being under 1 minute. When it comes to emergency first response, speed saves lives.

United Rescue needs your help to continue this incredible program. It’s fully funded by philanthropic support, which covers the cost of training new volunteers and purchasing medical equipment. You can donate here. 

To learn more and to sign up to volunteer, visit www.UnitedRescue.us