History
Neighbors Helping Neighbors
Vince Duren
Cazenovia began providing an ambulance service in 1972, the second community to do so in Richland County, and was formally organized and licensed through the state of Wisconsin as the Cazenovia Area Rescue Squad in 1976.
Our service was born out of a recognized need for emergency services at a time when rural EMS was in its infancy in Wisconsin.
In 1971, Cazenovia Firefighter, and Postmaster Vince Duren encountered a fatal 2 car collision 1/2 mile south of the village. The surviving occupants had significant injuries and required urgent transport to a hospital. At that time, hospital transports were typically provided by funeral home hearses. However, at that time, an area funeral home had terminated those services. The patients waited over 40 minutes on scene for a sheriff’s deputy to arrive and transport. Realizing we could do better for our area citizens, Duren and firefighter Pat Mortimore took advantage of a state initiative to expand EMS to rural areas. They enrolled in an EMT course, became certified in 1972, and began providing EMT level care for our area out of a panel van that the department converted into an ambulance. Other fireman were trained in advanced first aid and provided assistance. Vince and Pat were able to recruit others to become EMT’s in the years following until enough were certified to formally organize as a service in 1976.
Technology and research have continually changed how we do our job throughout the years, but the cause has remained the same. We are a family of volunteers with the common cause of providing help to those in need when they need it. We believe a quote by co-founder Vince Duren sums it up best,
“They were pretty much people with the same kind of intent, to be good neighbors and to try and help the community a little bit and give something back to it”
There is a nationwide shortage of capable EMT’s, especially in the rural volunteer sector. We are not immune. We currently have 17 EMT’s on our roster and are continually recruiting and welcoming community members to apply. For more information on becoming an EMT or about our service, send us a message and we’ll be happy to have a conversation with you.
Our service was born out of a recognized need for emergency services at a time when rural EMS was in its infancy in Wisconsin.
In 1971, Cazenovia Firefighter, and Postmaster Vince Duren encountered a fatal 2 car collision 1/2 mile south of the village. The surviving occupants had significant injuries and required urgent transport to a hospital. At that time, hospital transports were typically provided by funeral home hearses. However, at that time, an area funeral home had terminated those services. The patients waited over 40 minutes on scene for a sheriff’s deputy to arrive and transport. Realizing we could do better for our area citizens, Duren and firefighter Pat Mortimore took advantage of a state initiative to expand EMS to rural areas. They enrolled in an EMT course, became certified in 1972, and began providing EMT level care for our area out of a panel van that the department converted into an ambulance. Other fireman were trained in advanced first aid and provided assistance. Vince and Pat were able to recruit others to become EMT’s in the years following until enough were certified to formally organize as a service in 1976.
Technology and research have continually changed how we do our job throughout the years, but the cause has remained the same. We are a family of volunteers with the common cause of providing help to those in need when they need it. We believe a quote by co-founder Vince Duren sums it up best,
“They were pretty much people with the same kind of intent, to be good neighbors and to try and help the community a little bit and give something back to it”
There is a nationwide shortage of capable EMT’s, especially in the rural volunteer sector. We are not immune. We currently have 17 EMT’s on our roster and are continually recruiting and welcoming community members to apply. For more information on becoming an EMT or about our service, send us a message and we’ll be happy to have a conversation with you.
Front Row L-R: David Rasmussen, Jody Schmitt, Ronald Rockweiler, Richard Daniels.
Back Row L-R: Darrell Slama, Vince Duren, Judy Connors, Irene Barreau, Bonnie Marhsall
A service such as ours is built on the foundations laid by those who served before us. A benefit of having an EMS service in a small community is the longevity of which members typically serve. We have a vibrant mix of EMT's with varying lengths of service. Ranging from EMT licenses earned in the late 1970's to ones gained as recently as 2019. This offers each member a unique perspective into rural EMS from those who have been in the field since its beginnings, and from those just entering it.
46 Years of leadership
Front: Donald Adelman, Back L-R: Kevin Rockweiler, Jeffrey Even
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Much like the longevity of service for our EMT's, follows a low turnover in service leadership. In the 46 years of our official existence, we have had 3 service directors lead the crew. Donald Adelman was elected our first Chief at our inception in 1976. He provided stable leadership for 33 years and guided the service as it continued to grow, later expanding to a second ambulance, until his retirement in 2009. Following Adelman's tenure, Kevin Rockweiler assumed the role and lead the service for 9 years until 2018, this involved leading the service through substantial change, including a switch in medical direction and protocols, and involvement in the state pilot program for Narcan, prior to being released to services statewide. Following Rockweiler, Jeffrey Even stepped into the role, where he continues to serve today.
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