Hillsborough paramedic tried to save a life, died on duty

Less than a day after working hard to save a life, Hillborough Paramedic James V. Maguire lost his own in the line of duty, according to an announcement from his squad.

According to the squad, Maguire — a former Marine who'd been with the squad since 1979 — responded to a call near his home on Sunday afternoon and performed CPR for an extended period of time.

Less than 20 hours later, Maguire suffered an apparent heart attack, the squad said. It wasn't immediately clear from the announcement if the two incidents were considered related or what became of the patient he tried to help Sunday, but the squad referred to Maguire's passing as a line-of-duty death.

"Rest easy, brother. We have it from here," the squad wrote i the announcement.

In a Facebook comment Wednesday, Kim Formato remembered the time Maguire had been a hero to her:

"If not for this outstanding officer that arrived at my doorstep at 1:00 in the morning on Nov. 10, 2003 I'm now sure what I would have done. I had gone into labor and it was too late to get to the hospital," she wrote. "James was there to assist me thru and delivered my baby boy. If not for him, my baby boy would have stopped breathing due to his cord being tightly wrapped around his throat. James was able to get the cord unwrapped. James stayed on scene until me and my baby were transported to the hospital. He even returned to my home to check on us and give an interview."

Over the last four decades, Maguire served as a crew chief, lieutenant and squad president. He was currently serving as the supply officer, in charge of all medical and station supplies, the squad said.

From 1982, through 1985, he'd been an EMT with Middlesex General Hospital (now Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital) in New Brunswick. In 1986, Jim wrote Hillsborough's first Mass Casualty Incident Protocols and in 1987 became the EMS liaison to the newly-formed Hillsborough Township Office of Emergency Management, the squad said.

He was also a former Somerset County sheriff’s officer and Hillsborough Township Police Department officer, until he retired in 2008. Among his several positions, he was a hostage negotiator and and undercover narcotics officer.

The squad said that after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, he worked on the FBI’s World Trade Center Task Force’s Forensic Unit — an experience that served him well as he became Hillsborough Twp. deputy OEM coordinator and Hillsborough’s first municipal counter-terrorism coordinator, training other officers in counter-terrorism techniques.

He worked as a paramedic at Hunterdon Medical Center in addition to serving on the Hillsborough EMS day crew, the squad said.

There will be a viewing on Sunday from 2 to 6: p.m. and a funeral on Monday morning at 10 a.m. Specific plans for emergency services personnel are being finalized and will be published as soon as details are available.