When Barry Bachenheimer first signed up for an EMT course at 16 years old, he originally wanted to become a firefighter.  

“I watched [“Emergency”], and I saw the firefighters and the paramedics on the show — I thought I wanted to do that,” said Bachenheimer, the current director of curriculum who will become assistant superintendent for the 2020-21 school year. “As soon as I got old enough, I went to my town and said I want to be a firefighter. At the time they said you had to be 18, but the ambulance squad next door would take you if you were 16.”

Thirty four years after signing up for an EMT course, Bachenheimer has not only continued with the program but is also doing it alongside his daughter, Lea Bachenheimer. Both of them have continued to volunteer with the South Orange Rescue Squad during the coronavirus pandemic. 

“[EMT] has definitely brought us closer together,” Lea said. “It’s a cool thing to be able to have this thing that we both do and to have something that I am able to share with him.”

Bachenheimer is on duty from 6 p.m. Sunday night to 5 a.m. Monday morning, while Lea’s shift lasts Sunday evenings from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Although Bachenheimer has not chosen to lessen his hours during the pandemic, Lea said that she was taken off the schedule around the end of March. 

“When the [pandemic] started, they cut down our crew to two people when normally we would have ridden in crews of three or four,” Lea said. “Since I was the third member of our crew, I was taken off the schedule in order to minimize the exposure to COVID-19. I haven’t ridden in a while, but we’re starting to open our crews, so I’m back on the schedule now.”

When the pandemic first began, Bachenheimer said that he was “scared out of [his] mind.” However, he said that he felt more comfortable volunteering knowing that he was required to wear safety equipment such as N95 masks, goggles, gloves, and hazmat suits. 

“I knew I was protected, but with all the stories I had been hearing, every time I heard someone coughing, I was like ‘I’ll do my best to help you, but I’m really scared,’” Bachenheimer said.

Bachenheimer said that when he began to go on more calls, he got used to the idea of volunteering during the pandemic.

“From mid-March through the whole month of April, our call volume went through the roof,” Bachenheimer said. “Every call one after the next was all COVID-19 related calls. We probably turned the corner once we went into May because that’s when I saw the call volume really start to decline.”

Other precautions that Bachenheimer and Lea must take while volunteering is that they must wear an isolation gown if they encounter a patient who tested positive for the virus. The volunteers must also wear a full tyvek suit if they have to treat a patient who needs medication from their mouth or their nose. 

“I got into a routine that before I got home, I’d change out of my uniform and shower at the ambulance station,” Bachenheimer said. “As soon as I got home, I’d dump my uniform in the laundry machine with lots of bleach and do my best to keep all the germs out of my house.” 

Although Bachenheimer said it can be a challenge for him to find a balance between volunteer work and his job as the director of curriculum, he said that he has a passion for EMT and EMS. He also said that he enjoyed sharing his excitement for EMT when he taught the First Response course at PV for seven years. 

“We have a lot of students at PV who have an interest in healthcare whether they want to be nurses, doctors, physicians assistance or just want to know what to do in an emergency, so [the First Response course] was a change for me to get to know students and a chance for them to know skills,” Bachenheimer said.