The Town of Newburgh Emergency Medical Services is always looking for new members.
Interested but hesitant to apply? Contact our membership team at 845-561-0950, Option 6 to have all of your questions answered before you even fill out the application!
Need some encouragement? Check out why our members choose to volunteer!
I started Volunteering with TONEMS in the Fall of 2019 since I attend college nearby at Mount Saint Mary College. I came to the agency with three years of EMS experience after serving as an EMT in my home state of New Jersey with the Long Hill First Aid Squad, and Stirling Volunteer Fire Department. TONEMS provides a unique volunteering experience and exciting environment to work in, with new equipment and progressive protocols. All of the members make the agency feel like a second home for me which made me feel welcome and wanted. Volunteering here has allowed me to obtain experiences I haven’t yet been able to in New Jersey. This is especially true with serving as an Officer for TONEMS, which was an entirely new experience for me. Serving as an Officer has allowed me to expand my ability to lead and learn how to work in an administrative capacity to help the agency operate. I am proud to say I am able to take the skills I have learned at TONEMS and bring them to other agencies and workplaces. Volunteering in EMS is the ultimate way to give back to the community and its people, and there’s no better place to do it than at TONEMS. – Captain Jonathan Fessock
I choose to volunteer as I wanted to be a part of my community and to help others. I volunteered first for my local ambulance corps starting off as a driver. Unfortunately, my local agency was slowly failing due to the lack of support from their local government, lack of volunteers, and lack of donations from the community, (which is a common occurrence today). Once I received my EMT Certification, a friend that was volunteering at the Town of Newburgh EMS (TONEMS) highly recommended I join there. I have truly found my EMS family at TONEMS. I am now a CPR/First Aid Instructor, Stop the Bleed Instructor, Emergency Vehicle Instructor, and Narcan Instructor. The possibilities have been endless here at TONEMS and we keep expanding those possibilities. TONEMS has such a wonderful reputation and opportunities volunteers from outside the Town of Newburgh are joining, even as far as New Jersey. TONEMS supports their local community but also recognizes the need to support the surrounding local EMS Agencies, where they are able to, by reaching out and helping with education needs. I am very proud to be a part of the TONEMS Team. – Dawn Barnes
I started volunteering at TONEMS because I wanted to serve my community members in their greatest times of need. I also have an interest in the medical field and thought this would be a great way to combine my need to help as well as my need to learn. TONEMS met those needs and more. I was able to become part of a larger EMS family and build many strong connections. I am a graduate of SUNY Dutchess and Mount Saint Mary College where I studied Human Services and Psychology. I am now in graduate school at William James College in Newton, Massachusetts where I am pursuing a Psy.D in Clinical Psychology with a concentration in Geropsychology. However, during summer and winter breaks as well as any weekends I come home, I make every effort to pick up shifts on the ambulance! I attribute much of my success to my experiences with this agency. TONEMS continues to help me grow and I am incredibly lucky to play a part in the agency. – William Dean
Why do I volunteer? Service to the community, personal rewards, and camaraderie. EMS is as personal and rewarding as a volunteer can get. When you answer the call for help from someone having the worst moment of their life it is a privilege to be that person. I don’t think anybody ever forgets being in the back of an ambulance or those that were there for them. I am grateful we have these volunteer agencies to provide a venue for those that want to serve in this capacity. Many careers in medicine have been launched after a volunteer EMS experience. I have been a member of TONEMS since 2012. I was also was a teacher at Newburgh Free Academy for 32 years in the Career and Technical Education Department and retired in 2014. I have been part of multiple committees within our agency including the membership committee, vehicle committee, and building committee. I am also a member of Cronomer Valley Fire Department in the Town of Newburgh. I am the second oldest Orange County resident to complete the Firefighter 1 training at the county fire training center and graduated at age 57. During my free time I enjoy working with HAM radios, camping, and riding anything with two wheels. I began my EMS career while a high school student in 1976 with New Windsor Volunteer Ambulance and the City of Newburgh Volunteer Ambulance. No matter what your age or background I encourage all to seek us out for this unique volunteer experience. Currently in my 60’s, I hope any retirees out there don’t think they’re too old for this! – Frank Wolf
After graduating from Mount Saint Mary College with a Communications degree in 2019, I gained professional on-set experience in various productions. Though production was and continues to be a passion of mine, it felt as though a piece was missing. This prompted me to embark on a new career goal of becoming a Set Medic for TV & Film. In Fall of 2021, I joined TONEMS having no prior knowledge of medical or emergency services. This was an easy decision to make due to their engaging social media, training outreach and community involvement. As a current resident of the Town of Newburgh, it is fulfilling to be able to serve my community members. Approaching each shift, I know that I am going to learn something new and gain more experience since no day is like the other. I volunteer because I can be there to support a person on potentially one of the hardest days of their lives and the feeling that gives me is indescribable. Once I obtain my NYS EMT Certification, I am eager to explore more opportunities within emergency services. I am grateful to TONEMS for fostering a place of learning and a community that has given me friends, turned family. – Camille Muschio
I volunteer because I want to give back to the community in which I live. I am a strong believer in neighbor helping neighbor. What better way to help a neighbor than during a medical emergency. Even though I also work as a paramedic in New York City for the past 30 years, I still think it is important to volunteer and help your community. In addition to working in the field, I am also an educator specializing in the fields of emergency medical services, disaster management, public health, higher education, international disaster response, health services administration, and consulting. I have volunteered at TONEMS for ten years in 2022, as well as the Winona Lake Engine Co #2 and the Central Park Medical Unit for the past thirty years. In addition, I also volunteer and respond to disasters all over the world. I believe that a helping hand is always welcomed by those who really need it. – George W. Contreras
I volunteer because I’ve felt a duty to serve since a young age. I started in the US Coast Guard and upon completing my service there, I didn’t feel my time helping others was over. EMS is an integral part of our community and when people are in need, I want to be there to make a difference for them. My experience in the service seemed to be most closely associated with EMS so it was a no-brainer for me to join! I don’t even live in the Town of Newburgh, but when I contacted my local agency, no one got back to me, so I kept looking until I found the place for me! I’d say I also came to TONEMS because it provides a lot of experience and is known for being a very busy agency in our area. My partner also works in Newburgh as an RN so I think it is awesome that we are both helping members of the same community in our own ways. – Anthony Occhino
