This from Asher Heimermann:

The Scout Leaders Rescue Squad is a non-profit ambulance service and Dive Team serving Kenosha County and the surrounding counties. Scout Leaders Rescue Squad provides emergency medical services on a back-up basis, and mutual aid to Kenosha County agencies.

Asher Heimermann photo

A local organization offering volunteer medical and rescue service for nearly 80 years is in financial trouble.

Kenosha County Scout Leaders Rescue Squad, a nonprofit group created in the late 1930s, is operating at a deficit due to the rising costs of equipment, maintenance and insurance.

There are about 15 members comprising two divisions: Emergency Medical Technicians and Underwater Search and Rescue.

Scout Leaders offer contractual emergency management for a variety of events at a cost of $85 per hour and provide backup emergency medical support and mutual aid to Kenosha and surrounding counties. The group is often one of the first to arrive for local water emergencies.

The funds obtained through contractual work go toward vehicle maintenance, fuel, medication, liability insurance and worker’s compensation insurance.

The organization went through a similar crisis in 2009. At that time, the community stepped up with donations to keep the group solvent.

The Scout Leaders also survived a fire on Jan. 20, 2005, that destroyed three vehicles and a 16-foot rescue boat. The monetary loss of equipment was about $178,000, with another $150,000 damage to the building.

According to an article appearing in the March 2, 1947, edition of the Milwaukee Journal, Scout Leaders was created by Kenosha Boy Scouts Council executive Howard Gatley after a tragic 1930 train accident in Kenosha.

The crash killed 14 and injured 100. It involved a car striking a passenger train, causing a collision with an oncoming freight train, on the North Shore electric lines.

Scout Leaders eventually changed ownership from the Boys Scouts of America and the Red Cross to an independent nonprofit service provider.

Scout Leaders hold a concert fundraiser each spring. This year’s concert will be held at a time and location yet to be determined.

The organization recently launched a Gofundme.com page. Those interested in donating can visit the site and search “Kenosha County Scout Leaders Rescue.”

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