Former Chatham Mayor Donates Computers To Emergency Squad

Former Mayor, Deputy Mayor and Township Committee member, Bailey Brower, Jr. and his wife Taz, made a significant contribution to the Chatham Emergency Squad this month. They made this donation in recognition of James Srygley, a former member and President of the Squad. This donation will be used towards the purchase of 3 new computers to comply with a New Jersey state law which goes into effect in January, 2018 and requires computerized data reporting.

The Browers are long-term Chatham residents and are well known in this area. For many years they owned the Noe Pond Club. Mr. Brower is a direct descendant of the Noe Family who settled the Township in the early 1700's and whose family has resided in Chatham since well before the revolution. Mr. and Mrs. Brower have long been supporters of the Chatham Emergency Squad and its mission.

James Srygley is a Chatham township resident and was active in the Chatham Emergency Squad for many years. He served as its President from 1997-1998. Mr. Srygley was instrumental in overseeing appearances before the Township authorities and appealing to Squad neighbors and stakeholders to obtain approvals for the design and construction of the addition to the Squad building at 45 Spring Street. The addition included a spacious and comfortable training/conference room which is in constant use by Squad members and is the frequent home for community CPR classes. The Brower and Srygley families have been friends for years and Taz and Bailey and Jim were all active with the American Red Cross during the same time. Said Bailey "We have long admired Jim's commitment to this town and to volunteerism."

The Chatham Emergency Squad is a volunteer organization providing emergency medical assistance and transport to Chatham Borough and Township businesses, residents and visitors 365 days a year. CES never charges for its services and is supported almost entirely through donations from the community.

This generous donation comes at an excellent time for the Emergency Squad. In January, 2018 a new law will require that patient care report data be electronically reported to the state. Under the new law the electronic report will allow the state to collect important analytics and the electronic system will help emergency squads all over the state with quality assurance and information accuracy. In order to utilize the required software the Squad must purchase three new laptop computers with detachable tablets. The Squad is very grateful for this generous contribution. "There are many operational benefits associated with going to the electronic record system and we are so grateful for the Browers’ generosity," stated CES Captain Joseph Korkuch.

At the photo session with Chatham Emergency Squad officers and the Browers and Mr. Srygley, Mr. Brower stated that he was really pleased that their donation would go towards a specific and special need for the squad. "I bet a lot of Chatham residents don't know that you can make a special donation geared towards a specific project or piece of equipment," stated Mr. Brower.

"The Squad runs a general, annual fund drive to meet its financial requirements but can always use specific, directed donations to fund new state-of-the-art EMS equipment," says Rich Crater, the CES President who also manages the fund drive.

To learn more about the Chatham Emergency Squad, to donate or volunteer visit their website at www.chathamemergencysquad.org.

From Left to Right: CES Captain Joseph Korkuch, Bailey Brower Jr., Jim Srygley, Taz Brower and CES President, Rich Crater.