Prior to 1973, emergency medical services were handled by the Pompton Lakes First Aid Squad.
Preparation for service took nearly three years as a small group of residents, consisting of Dennis Callagher, Martin Carrigan Jr., Martin Carrigan III, Joseph Carrigan, Joseph B. Cisco, Thomas Jones and David Sisco approached the Mayor and Council with the proposal of forming a first aid squad in Wanaque. Mayor Longo appointed Councilman. Samuel Liotti as liaison of this group to report the progress of the Endeavor.

After much campaigning for prospective members, a group of about fifty began taking the required First Aid Training with the Ringwood Ambulance Corps, starting late in October of 1971. When not in training, this group met at the V.F.W. hall on Ringwood Ave. to attend to business matters.

As this group took direction, officers were elected. These first officers were: President - Dennis Callagher, Vice President - Thomas Jones, Secretary - Rosemary Jenkins and Operating Captain - Robert Brown.

By the end of June 1972, only seventeen of the original fifty remained associated with the Wanaque First Aid Squad. These seventeen began Probationary Training with the Pompton Lakes First Aid Squad and the Ringwood Ambulance Corps. and more training classes were initiated. The squad became Incorporated on June 21, 1972 through the efforts of Martin Carrigan III, Joseph B. Cisco, Arnold Cohen, Raymond Ernst and David Sisco.

By September 1972, letters were written to all squads in New Jersey explaining the desire to form a squad and to ask for anything that could be donated. The response was tremendous. Everything from bed pans and backboards to hospital beds and even one old ambulance (that was used for parts) was donated. Richard Smith’s garage on Fredericks St. was used to store this donated equipment.

About the same time, two used Cadillac ambulances (1965 & 1970) were purchased from Harold Clark of M & M Sales of Pompton Lakes for $10,000.00. These rigs were housed in two local gas stations until a home could be provided.

On December 6, 1972 the property at the end of Melrose Ave. was secured from the Wanaque Board of Education for the erection of a squad headquarters. Since the building would not be started until July 8, 1973, the Mayor and Council approved the placement of a trailer behind the Borough Hall on Ringwood Ave. that would be used as a base of operations until the building on Melrose Ave. could be completed.

With all preparations completed, the squad was now ready to begin. 12:00 Midnight on the eve of April 1, 1973 was chosen as the official date and a Dinner was planned to celebrate. This dinner was held at the then La Casa Roma (recently known as Duke’s Place) on Ringwood Ave. Names were chosen from a hat to be the first duty crew, this crew consisted of David Brolsma, David Doughty, Joseph Carrigan and Robert Jordan. The rigs were not needed until April 2, 1973 for a transportation from Chilton Hospital to Wanaque. Handling this, was a crew of Robert Jordan, Eileen Sisco and Marilyn Wachtler. On April 3, 1973, an emergency call was answered for a victim of anaphylactic shock. Answering this emergency were Frank Blatterman, John Del Buono and Fred Fells.

In July 1973, construction of the squad headquarters was begun. This construction would not have been possible without the tremendous financial and manual assistance received from the Wanaque Lions Club. This club had the foresight to set aside funds for the eventual Wanaque based first aid squad. The dedication of this building was held on May 26, 1974.

Many years have passed since the initial planning and many changes have been experienced.
By the fifth anniversary (1978), a large hall was erected on the property so that fund raising activities could be held. This hall was erected with the untiring efforts of the Wanaque Coaches Association. Today, this hall is generally used by the Wanaque First Aid Auxiliary whose efforts have contributed greatly to providing the funds necessary to keep the Wanaque First Aid Squad operating.

As the tenth anniversary approached, a Wanaque First Aid Youth Squad was formed in 1982 to train and serve as a feeder group to the adult squad. During the tenth anniversary year of 1982, the Installation Dinner was held at the Squad Building on Melrose Ave. with Congressman Bob Roe in attendance. Later that same year, a gala parade was presented with first aid squads from all parts of New Jersey in attendance.

On September 11, 2001 America came under attack by terrorists. The Wanaque First Aid Squad answered the call for assistance by not only providing an ambulance to assist New York City, but by also providing an ambulance to cover Wanaque and assist the surrounding area. A Wanaque ambulance was provided as needed to assist New York City on Tuesday September 11th and again on Thursday September 14th. Wanaque joined nearly 200 other Volunteer EMS providers from across New Jersey to assist in any way they could.
 
Through the cooperative efforts of the Wanaque Borough Council and the Wanaque First Aid Squad, two identical ambulances were purchased in 1989 and again in 1998 The Wanaque Borough Council has also assisted in updating squad equipment. In October 2005 the Wanaque First Aid Squad took delivery of it’s newest ambulance which replaces one of the every aging ambulances. This ambulance was purchased by the Wanaque First Aid Squad with funds raised by the WFAS Auxiliary and donations from the residents of Wanaque.

Throughout the past thirty years, the Wanaque First Aid Squad has answered thousands of emergency calls because of volunteers who are willing to achieve and maintain certification through the NJ State Department of Health and recently the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians. This certification includes CPR., Basic First Aid, New Jersey State and National Registry Emergency Medical Technicians. Hundreds have served on the Wanaque First Aid Squad and classes are constantly being held. The dedicated service of these members has not gone unnoticed as recognition has been received from the National Burn Victim Foundation and the NJ State First Aid Council for excellence in handling emergencies. The Wanaque First Aid Squad salutes this eventful past and turns to the future with anticipation of continued dedicated service to Wanaque Borough.