60+ EMT Volunteers Find Purpose Saving Lives in NJ

When Robert Bianchi turned 60, he found two old EMT patches in a memory box his late mother had saved, and the discovery changed everything.

"It hit me like a lightning bolt," Bianchi said. "That's what I needed to reclaim."

Within a month, the former assistant prosecutor enrolled in EMT training to recertify after more than three decades away. He returned to the South Orange Rescue Squad, stepping into a world transformed by technology but grounded in the same mission: helping people during their worst moments.

Bianchi first volunteered with the squad in the 1980s before leaving to focus on his legal career. After achieving his professional goals, he began reflecting on what brought him fulfillment.

The training was tougher than he remembered. EMTs now use automated defibrillators, epinephrine injectors, and specialized CPR machines that didn't exist decades ago.

But some calls remind him why the work matters beyond the equipment. After using a defibrillator to revive a cardiac arrest patient, Bianchi responded to an elderly man who had fallen and injured his head.

"That call was just as powerful," he said. "Sometimes someone is just scared and needs reassurance that everything is going to be okay."

Jeff Hark has volunteered with emergency medical services for 50 years, including 20 with the South Orange squad. He said the pull to help never fades.

"It gets into your blood," Hark said. "Once you start, you kind of have a need to help people."

South Orange Rescue Squad President Nik Engineer said senior volunteers bring critical experience and judgment to the team. Their life experience helps them connect with patients from all backgrounds and stages of life.

"Staying mentally and physically active is important at all stages of life," Engineer said. "Volunteering as an EMT is physically and mentally demanding and offers a rich array of experiences."

Why This Inspires

For Bianchi, volunteering offers something his successful legal career never could. "This is different from the other things I've done," he said. "This is pure. This is for everyone else."

The work has given him purpose and pride at a stage when many people slow down. He hopes his story encourages others to consider volunteering, especially those who think they're too old.

"Don't think you can do it? You can," Bianchi said. "Helping other people makes you proud of what you're doing."

His mother's simple act of saving those patches decades ago led him back to a life of service.