Morton Schmerling, EMT at the Shore
Morton Schmerling, 61, a resident of Stone Harbor, N.J., for 38 years, who had been a staff emergency medical technician for several rescue squads, died after taking ill on the job.
Morton Schmerling, 61, a resident of Stone Harbor, N.J., for 38 years, who had been a staff emergency medical technician for several rescue squads, died after taking ill on the job.
"He collapsed at work with the Upper Township Rescue Squad" in Seaville, N.J., on April 13, and died Saturday, April 23, at the AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center in Pomona, N.J., his wife, Meg, said.
Jay Potter, chief of the Upper Township squad, said Mr. Schmerling and others had responded to a medical emergency call. He had completed the assignment and "was walking back to a support truck when he collapsed," Potter said.
Potter said his colleagues resuscitated Mr. Schmerling and took him to the hospital.
"He was a great EMT," Potter said. "He loved coming to work."
Born in Philadelphia, Mr. Schmerling grew up in Cherry Hill and graduated from Cherry Hill High School East in 1973.
Mr. Schmerling sold commercial life insurance in Wildwood into the 1980s, his wife said, when he added to his workload by becoming a part-time volunteer on the Stone Harbor Rescue Squad.
"The first day on the job, he said he loved it," she said. "He wanted to do what he loved and so he became an EMT."
Mr. Schmerling later became a full-time EMT for the Monmouth Ocean Hospital Service in Neptune, N.J., she said, and had been with the AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center since 2006.
At the same time, staff work for the Upper Township Rescue Squad became a second home, his wife said. "He called it his happy place," she said.
Besides his wife, Mr. Schmerling is survived by son Harris, daughters Abbie and Rebecca, and a sister.
A visitation was set from noon Wednesday, April 27, at Platt Memorial Chapels, 2001 Berlin Rd., Cherry Hill, before a 1 p.m. funeral service there, followed by interment in Crescent Memorial Park, Pennsauken.
Donations may be sent to the Upper Township Rescue Squad, 2008 Tuckahoe Rd., Woodbine, N.J. 08270.
Condolences may be offered to the family at www.plattmemorial.com.
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