REVAS Inducts New Leaders And Bestows Service Awards
River Edge Volunteer Ambulance Service (REVAS) held their first meeting of 2021, which will be the beginning of 72 years of continuous service to the community, at a Zoom Meeting on 1/20/21. The first order of business was administrating of the oath of office by Mayor Tom Papaleo to the Administrative and Line Officers attending.
Administrative Officers
President: Joseph Zemaites
Vice President: Catherine O’Donnell
Treasurer : Carol Miller
Assistant Treasurer: Joan Daly
Secretary: Bethann Kiely
Line Officers
Captain: Lisbelt Torres
First Lieutenan: Audrius Juskelis
Second Lieutenant: Zulma Cartelli
Sergeant: Ronald Silvestri
Board of Governors
Date Appointed Term Ends
Joan Daly 1/1/2021 12/31/2023
Albert Ruhlmann 1/1/2021 12/31/2023
Donna Sanders* 1/1/2021 12/31/2022
*Appointed to fill the unexpired term of Joe Zemaites who resigned to assume the Presidency.
18th District Delegates (EMS Council of NJ/First Aid Council)
Primary: Donna Sanders
Primary: Carol Miller
Primary: Audrius Juskelis
Alternate: Bethann Kiely
Alternate: Ronald Silvestri
Upon completion of the ceremony the Mayor complimented and thanked the members for their service to the town especially during the pandemic.
President Joseph Zemaites thanked Bethann Kiely for her work as Captain during 2020 especial her work in organizing our COVID-19 policy, procedures, and response. The pandemic cause many of our standard procedures to be modified and the Line Officers (1st LT Lisbeth Torres, 2nd LT Zulma Cartelli and SGT Bobby Alexiou) under the leadership of Capt. Kiely did an outstanding job of keeping the members informed not only for our own protection, but also for our families and the patients we service. During her last report she thanked the members for their support during the pandemic and announced several awards:
100 Calls – Each year the members who reach 100 calls are acknowledged at the meeting. In 2020
Audruis Juskelis, Bobby Alexious and Bethann Kiely were recognized.
Longevity Award – REVAS recognizes members who have reached longevity milestone. This year the following members were recognized:
5 years - Zulma Cartelli, Melisa Kinoian, Lisbeth Torres, Luis Torres, Bobby Alexiou
10 years - Joe Schossberg
15 years - Joellen Schossberg
Leadership - REVAS also recognizes members who have given leadership service to the organization and are now returning to the ranks:
Past President – Cathy O’Donnell
Past Captain – Bethann Kiely
CPR Save Award
The final award is in recognition of what our organization is about – the saving of a life. Our members are trained to assist and be part of a team that provides Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR). The CPR Save Award is presented to our members and those to who participated in the saving a life. On October 23,2020, at 1419 (2:19 PM) EMT Michael Schlossberg and Driver Tim Carrol were monitoring their pages / radios when a call for assistance was dispatched from RE PD. Upon arriving at the scene, they joined Sgt Marc Abate, Patrol Officers Anthony Roman, Brian Estevez, Pat Diamond and Matt Piterski of the REPD who had started CPR. Joining on scene were members of the Hackensack University Medical Center’s Advance Life Saving (ALS) Team 103. Once the patient was stabilized, REVAS transported the patient to the Hackensack Hospital Emergency Department with the paramedics on board.
REVAS is open to volunteers. If you are interested in learning more about volunteering, please contact us at riveredgeems@gmail.com with your contact information and one of our officers will contact you to discuss your interest or call us at 201-261-8094. Additional information can be founded on our website at www.revas.org