WHAT IS POST
Post 53 provides high-quality emergency medical services to the Darien community, using Darien High School students and adult volunteers. Our members are committed to achieving and maintaining the highest level of training and skill in providing prehospital care and transport.
TODAY
Post 53 operates three fully equipped, state-of-the-art ambulances that provide emergency medical care to the community 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Every ambulance is staffed by Connecticut-certified Emergency Medical Technicians who are committed to delivering compassionate, high-quality prehospital care.
Our clinical operations are conducted under the medical direction of Stamford Hospital, ensuring the highest standards of patient care. Hospital physicians, EMS educators, and clinical leaders work closely with our organization to provide ongoing education, quality improvement, and oversight. Every patient encounter is reviewed to evaluate clinical care, response performance, and operational excellence, fostering a culture of continuous learning and improvement.
Darien utilizes a coordinated, tiered emergency response system designed to deliver the right resources to every emergency. 911 calls receive an immediate response from the Darien Police Department, the Town’s primary first responder agency, with the Darien Fire Department responding when appropriate. These units are quickly followed by a Post 53 ambulance, an adult EMS supervisor, and if needed the town paramedic unit stationed in Darien.
Stamford EMS has proudly provided advanced life support (ALS) paramedic services to Darien since 1995. Staffed by highly experienced paramedics selected for both their clinical expertise and their ability to work alongside the student and adult members of Post 53, the paramedic unit has been based in Darien since 2016. This close partnership ensures that Darien residents receive seamless, high-quality emergency medical care, from basic life support through advanced life support interventions, whenever needed.
“Darien’s highly trained personnel, their outstanding stair step response system including Supervisor EMTs, the Darien Police as first responders, and close proximity to Stamford EMS and Norwalk EMS paramedics when needed, and the Stamford and Norwalk Hospitals, provide excellent medical treatment. The Darien EMS system is solid, totally integrated with surrounding town resources, and ready to respond.”
TRAINING
Every Post 53 member participates in a comprehensive training and continuing education program designed to maintain the highest level of clinical knowledge, technical skills, and patient care. Initial EMT education is complemented by ongoing training throughout the year to ensure members remain proficient and current with evolving emergency medical practices.
Twice each month, members attend Wednesday evening training sessions led by physicians, paramedics, nurses, and other healthcare professionals. These hands-on and classroom-based sessions cover a wide range of emergency medical topics, including trauma care, cardiac emergencies, pediatric medicine, airway management, and the latest treatment protocols.
In addition to formal training, Post 53 conducts monthly clinical case review conferences that examine recent emergency calls in a collaborative learning environment. Members discuss patient assessments, treatment decisions, clinical reasoning, operational performance, and lessons learned from each incident. These roundtable discussions are an essential part of our quality improvement program, reinforcing best practices while providing experienced EMTs with the opportunity to mentor newer members and strengthen the entire organization.
This commitment to continuous education, mentorship, and quality improvement ensures that every Post 53 member is prepared to provide exceptional emergency medical care to the Darien community.
OUR HISTORY
In 1970, John E. “Bud” Doble founded Post 53, modeled after an Explorer Post on Nantucket.
Along with concerned parents, he founded Post 53 to teach young people about the devasting effects of drug and alcohol abuse through direct emergency medical treatment. One year after starting out as a Boy Scout project and operating out of Bud Doble’s basement, Post 53 was handling 100 calls annually with a budget of $150. Post 53 quickly progressed from the basement, to the old Noroton Heights train station depot and finally to the current headquarters — a dedicated building at Zero Ledge Road in Darien.
The initial ambulance was a converted telephone truck. Then the Darien Sports Shop donated the first “real” ambulance in 1976. That same year, Post 53 officially became the “first responders” for the town of Darien and provided Emergency Medical Service from 6 PM to midnight. By this time, the yearly operating budget had increased to $12,000 and Post 53 was responding to over 250 calls annually. In 1985, Post 53 was expanded to a 24-hour service by the Town of Darien.
The fleet eventually expanded to three full-service ambulances and two “flycars”, all donated by generous citizens and businesses of Darien. In 1989, a new headquarters was constructed for Post 53 to replace the crowded train station and Post 53 volunteers were now responding to over 1000 medical emergencies a year.
Today, responding to over 1600 calls a year, Post 53 is recognized locally and nationally as one of the finest emergency ambulance services in the United States for its consistently high quality pre-hospital emergency care. Over 1000 Darien High School students have served their community as members of Post 53 since its inception.
