By Laura Mazur
Community Post
The Minster Area Life Squad wants YOU.
With the constantly busy lives of people in the area, the Minster Area Life Squad is actively recruiting for new members.

“We have an active recruiting committee and to be a good organization, especially a volunteer one, you have to constantly be looking,” said Bob Tipton, president of the Minster Area Life Squad.
The squad currently has 25 volunteer members, who either live or work in Minster and wish to help out the community in an emergency.
“People's lives are changing. We always have to be looking to the future,” said Mike Ripploh, a member of the squad's recruiting committee.
With members of Minster's squad relocating to other areas, getting busy with personal affairs and some even retiring, the recruiting committee has recently taken different steps to fill in membership numbers and shifts with new memmbers.
“We just want to help the community,” explained Carol Adams, another member of the recruiting committee.
The recruiting committee has taken to asking area businesses that do not have any personnel on the squad if employees would be interested. They are also just letting the community know that new members are always welcome to join, whether they are asked to join or not.
If hesitant about joining, potential recruits can participate in the squad's ride-along program before making a final decision about becoming a member. This recently started program gives interested people a feel for what they would be encountering while on call. They are given a pager for a week to go on calls with squad members. Potential members then ride along in the squad truck and see what goes on and what is required of a member when duty calls.
The only costs there are for members are their time and gas to get to the station for calls. Costs for training are all paid for by the squad upon signing a one-year service contract of commitment to the squad. All clothing and equipment used on the squad are also provided.
Anyone is encouraged to become a member. No medical background is needed to help out. For those not knowing if they can remember medical terminology and information about equipment, tips and tricks, such as acronyms, are used to help remember, as well as veteran members are always there to help one another out.
“When you find you want to do something so bad and you have the passion, you learn to do something,” said Ripploh.
Of the current 25 volunteers, only four have medical backgrounds. Tipton, for instance, admits that he knew nothing about medicine before joining the squad, but he joined four years ago after getting interested when his wife, who is a member, came home with excitement after a run. Some who have enjoyed their work with the squad have advanced their education and even gone on to pursue full-time careers in the medical field.
After becoming a member, re-certification is required every three years, which can even be done as easily as an online test. For those wanting to further help out the community, training can be done to further advance the level of certification from basic, to intermediate and even to paramedic.
Training can be done at Minster's station because of it being an accredited training facility in Ohio, but testing is done at another facility. A portion of the training involves going to an area hospital emergency room to see what happens to patients once they arrive at the hospital. Members-in-training get to learn, as well as experience, what it is like to be a member of the squad.
Squad memberships have ranged from three years to some members having committed to more than 20 years of service to the community.
“If you're the type of person who satisfies yourself by helping others, this is the group to do it,” said Ripploh.
The squad has about 200 calls per year, on average, with members getting about one or two runs per month during their week-long shift of 12-hour duty calls. Some members are on duty Monday through Sunday, for 12-hour shifts, once every four weeks. Others are on call while at work in Minster or when they are available. Those with advanced training, however, may be called to go on even more runs because of their qualification to help more. Adams, who has intermediate level training, made a record 65 runs last year.
Adams said what makes a good squad is the different people involved in it.
“A variety of people coming from different backgrounds–it gives diversity,” she said.
Both full and part-time members are encouraged to join.
If anyone is interested in volunteering for the squad or knows someone else who is interested in volunteering, contact the Minster Area Life Squad at 419-628-2001 or Tipton at 419-628-4205. The squad will also be hosting an open house, in partnership with the Minster-Jackson Township Fire Department, on Sunday, June 29, from 1 to 4 p.m. at the fire station, located along Jefferson Street, in Minster. Come out and learn more about how community members can help each other.