Saving lives in Atlantic Beach for 38 years

Following in his mother Gloria’s footsteps, Atlantic Beach resident Scott Lipschitz joined the Atlantic Beach Rescue Squad at 16 for the adrenaline rush he got when the calls came in.

Now 45, Lipschitz, a New York City paramedic, is the first assistant chief of the Atlantic Beach Rescue Squad that performs rescue, emergency medical services and water rescue for the Village of Atlantic Beach and surrounding areas. “The village is a small village so our response time is typically less than a minute,” said Lipschitz, whose mother is a lifelong member of the squad. “Chiefs usually go to the scene to initiate care and find out what’s going on.”

Rescue squad members are assigned shifts and are on call if they are in the Atlantic Beach or an adjacent area. When a call comes in, members are notified through a pager and text message. “The pager is the primary way we get notified and our cell phone is secondary,” Lipschitz said. “As our system evolved, we added another layer to get as many members as possible to each call.”

Robert Kiss, an 18-year member, established the rescue squad with approximately 10 others in 1974 to serve others as well as his family. “It takes time to get to [Atlantic Beach] and if we can help somebody who needs help then we’re more likely to save their life,” he said. “I also wanted to know how to respond if something happened to myself or my wife.”

Chief of the Atlantic Beach Rescue Squad, Neil Metz, said since becoming a member 27 years ago the squad has increased its services tremendously. “Originally we were just performing medical rescue and now we’re also doing water rescue,” he said. “We also have an ambulance, three boats, a jet ski, hummer and a crew bus to take rescue swimmers to the scene.”

Ten years ago the rescue squad began performing water rescue. “Before we started no other departments [in the surrounding communities] had water rescue,” Lipschitz said. “Now we also train a lot of fire departments and work with Nassau County to provide a water rescue course every summer.”

Membership has also grown, according to Metz, who said the squad boasts 35 members and 3 junior members, who are under the age of 18. “Our youngest junior member is 15-years-old and our oldest senior member is 85,” he said. “EMT training is optional and everyone has to undergo CPR training once a year.”

Metz, like Kiss, joined the squad to help others. “My wife said it’s a calling,” he said. “I get satisfaction from helping people and there are people I see walking around today that I know I’m part and parcel for them being alive.”

The rescue squad is supported by tax dollars under the umbrella of the Atlantic Beach Fire District and the Town of Hempstead. Lipschitz said the rescue squad currently has a contract with the Long Beach Fire Department to assist with calls but also responds where needed with other fire departments in the area, including the Lawrence-Cedarhurst Fire Department. “We add a good service to the residents who may have had to wait longer, especially when the Atlantic Beach Bridge was stuck open,” he said. “We assist any department that requests us whether for our ambulance, boats or marine rescue team.”

Though he’s not a teenager anymore, Lipschitz said he is more confident than ever about his lifesaving skills. “I felt that as long as I live in the village I can offer something to the community,” he said. “As you get older, the adrenaline part slows down and I’m more in it now to help the community and those communities around me.”

Monthly meetings are on the last Tuesday of every month at 8 p.m. and squad training is every Saturday at 10 a.m. at the Atlantic Beach Rescue Headquarters at 1 Rescue Road in Atlantic Beach. The squad encourages potential new members to attend.