Operations

The Aetna Hose Hook & Ladder Co. provides fire and emergency medical services to the City of Newark Delaware and its New Castle County neighbors. It is a combination volunteer and career fire department with approximately 100 active volunteer members and 8 career personnel.

The department is headed operationally by the Fire Chief. In addition to the Fire Chief, operations are handled by 4 Deputy Fire Chiefs, an EMS Deputy Chief, 4 Assistant Fire Chiefs, 8 Fire Captains, and 7 EMS Lieutenants. Administratively, the department is run by a president, a vice president, and an 8 member board of directors.

Members volunteer on all fire fighting activities. Due to the extremely high EMS call volume, Aetna has a paid-on-call and paid-per-call system for ambulance emergencies. Career personnel have their salaries and benefits provided for by Aetna.

Our current staffing provides 4 EMS crews 5 days a week, and 3 EMS crews on the weekends. Crews are as follows: 0530 - 1630 M - F (Career Staff), 0600 - 1800 7 days a week (Career Staff), 0800 - 1800 7 days a week (Paid-on-call), 0600 - 1800 7 days a week (Paid-on-call), and 2 crews 1800 - 0600 7 days a week (Paid-on-call). If all of the on duty crews are committed and additional EMS runs are dispatched, they are handled on a paid-per-call basis.

Membership is open to people at least 18 years of age who are willing to donate their time and talents to helping the community. Membership categories are available for those who wish to pursue emergency medical service activities and fire activities. Applicants for membership must undergo a background check before acceptance.

The Aetna Hose Hook & Ladder Co. operates 7 class A pumpers (with 1 of them having a 50 Foot Squrt), a 100 Foot aerial ladder truck, 5 basic life support ambulances, a heavy-duty rescue truck & 1 brush truck from 5 fire stations located on Elkton Road (Sta. 7), Ogletown Road (Sta. 8), Academy Street (Sta. 9 & 9A), and Old County Road (Sta. 10)

We are dispatched on emergency calls by a dispatch center which is part of a combined communications facility including 911, New Castle County Police, Delaware State Police and Fire/EMS. Assignment of apparatus to emergency calls is predetermined by company Standard Operating Procedures. Stations are dispatched by radio with tone alerting for most fire calls and by direct phone line to each station for most EMS calls and single engine emergencies. In addition, a printout of each call is received at the station as it is dispatched. Members may carry department issued pagers or be provided with desktop radios which alert them to emergency calls via radio tones.

All officers are elected from among eligible members every year for a one year term. Directors are two year terms. The Chief is responsible for all operational aspects of the department including direction to the career personnel assigned. The Chief appoints captain positions from among qualified members.