NJMedic

Back in the day when I was in the fire compay we never honored a cancellation unless it was a fire officer on scene. Once a FD unit arrived they would verify. Once too many times PD tried to cancel only to actualy find a problem unpon furher investigation by the FD. We always entered a structure were a fire alarm was activated. Our thought being that if someone paid the expense of installing a fire alarm they we going to get the service they deserved. Of course we tried to do as little damage as possible but calling an owner out every third day when his fire alarm was activated for the tenth time in one week got the message across, especially if it was raining or snowing out at 0300 hours.

Photos courtesy of WPXI and the Beaver County Times

Can't speak to the fire operations but NJ EMD has exercised our mutual aid pact with FDNY several times in the last ten years. In a nut shell FDNY will put a request into NYC OEM for resources and the OEM watch desk will reach out to the Regional EMS Communications Center in Newark to activate the NJ Plan. NJ assets can and would usually report to a NJ staging area and a final check at the crossings before going into NYC. Typically arranged in strike team or task force (NIMS concepts) and either escorted by a NJ EMS Supervisor or meet on the City side by FDNY Lt and brought to a NYC staging area. The desire is to place one FDNY member on board the NJ ambulance. No chase cars are used, all paramedics are teamed up with a BLS ambulance. Of course if there is a ALS ambulance they remain the same. NJ has responded to NYC on 2/93, 09/11, 2003 power failure and last year's blizzard. Operational period are 12 hours. Last year NJ was in NYC for 48 hours. No more than 3 EMTs with photo ID are allowed per ambulance. no specialty vehicles. If specialty vehicles are needed FDNY knows what we have and we know what they have. We meet we FDNY every quarter. I would have to think there is equivalent planning with Westchester and Nassau Counties On a side note……On 9/11 we deconn'ed over 25,000 people coming over via boat and landing in Hoboken. Of course we didn't have 25,000 sets of re-dress and rather than having 25,000 people running around naked they we deconn'ed with the clothes on. I think one two people objects and once the two nice 6ft7 NJ State Troopers talked to them they elected to get de'conned as well. Extra attention was paid to those who were injured or dust covered. It's is rather easy to shut down the transit system at a moment's notice. Trains stop at the first station, buses pull off to the side. The is already a plan in place. On the whole there is a whole team that has been working on a evacuation planning for the last several years. http://regionalcatpl...gional_ep.shtml

www.supportnjems.com Your HELP is needed! As a result of your support, EMS Legislation S818/A2095 has passed their respective houses and is now on the Governor's desk to be either signed or vetoed. Please help convince the Governor that signing this legislation is the right thing to do and that its passage will help improve patient care throughout the state. Please take a moment as soon as possible to call the Governor's office at 609-292-6000 or send a quick email to the Governor supporting this legislation. Either way is easy to do and will only take you a minute to complete. Lastly, please forward this to all of your family and friends to do the same. OPTION 1: Call the Governor's office at 609-292-6000 and simply say that you support Bills S818/A2095 and that you are asking the Governor to sign them into law unconditionally. OPTION 2: 1. Click on the following link http://www.state.nj.us/governor/contact/ 2. Select "Health and Senior Services" from the "Step 1 of 2" drop down menu. 3. Fill in the fields on the subsequent page with the sub-topic "Hospital Issues" and "Please Sign A2095/S818 Into Law" in the subject box. 4. Copy and paste the below message into the Governor's email or write your own. 5. Click on "Send Your Message" and you are done! Dear Governor: I am writing to ask that you sign EMS Legislation S818/A2095 revising requirements for Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Delivery in New Jersey. This legislation provides New Jersey's EMS system with the foundation it needs to ensure that every patient receives an emergency medical response from a qualified, capable, licensed EMS Professional, which may not be the case today. The bill ensures that all providers will be held accountable to the same standards, which is what all New Jersey residents and visitors deserve and what I unconditionally support. This legislation puts the patient first, which should be our most important consideration. I truly value the volunteer sector of our EMS system and believe that, contrary to what some opponents may say, this bill supports the entire EMS system, including its volunteers. I thank you for your attention in this matter and ask again that you sign without condition, S818/A2095. Thank you

In 2006, the New Jersey Legislature directed the Commissioner of the Department of Health and Senior Services to conduct a study of the New Jersey Emergency Medical Services (EMS) System. The findings of that study indicated the State's enabling EMS legislation and subsequent regulations require comprehensive overhaul in order to allow the system, and its various components, to make necessary improvements in medical care and to function in the most optimal and cost effective manner. The study also found that such changes were needed soon to avoid a catastrophic failure of the system. At the direction of the NJ State Department of Health and Senior Services, a diverse stakeholder group comprising of the NJ EMS Council and representatives from virtually all EMS component providers was convened. The task force was charged with providing a consensus path to implement the study's recommendations. Members of the task force included representatives of: American College of Emergency Physicians (NJ Chapter) Medical Transportation Association of NJ NJ State First Aid Council NJ League of Municipalities Mobile Intensive Care Unit Advisory Council JemSTAR Governor's EMS for Children Advisory Council St. Barnabas Medical Center Burn Center NJ Poison Information & Ed System EMT Training Fund Advisory Council NJ Trauma Council NJ Hospital Association NJ Office of Emergency Management (County EMS Coordinators) Large BLS and ALS Provider (Suburban) Legal Counsel Communications Committee Professional Firefighters Association of NJ (IAFF) NJ Career Fire Chiefs Association NJ State Police NJ Association of Paramedic Programs NJ Office of Highway Traffic Safety Large BLS and ALS Provider (Urban) NJ Office of Emergency Telecommunications Emergency Nurses Association NJ Dept of Health & Senior Services, NJ DHSS, Office of EMS Individual EMS Physician Individual Public Member Individual Volunteer EMT Individual Career Private EMT Individual Paramedic After over 8 months of meetings on the subject, the group developed detailed recomendations to change the EMS system in NJ. New legislation (S 818 and its companion bill A2095) was drafted to incorporate the recommendations and provide for a variety of statutory measures to enhance the scope and quality of the emergency medical services system in New Jersey and to improve its efficiency, streamline its bureaucracy and reduce its overall system cost to patients, taxpayers and the state. The bills were introduced by Senator Joe Vitale (D-Woodbridge) and Assemblyman Herbert Conaway (D-Burlington) in early January, 2010. On January 20, 2011, the New Jersey Assembly's Health and Human Services Committee amended A2095 and voted to move the bill to the floor of the General Assembly for a vote. The bill continues to address the issues raised by the Legislature's mandated Tri-Data EMS study and the recommendations made by the EMS Council's Task Force in the following ways: Performance Standards - Establishes a requirement to create system performance standards, both clinical and operational, aimed at improving care to the residents and visitors of New Jersey.Minimum Level of Staffing - A minimum of one emergency medical technician (EMT) as the standard of care for every ambulance in the state. This would be a uniform standard regarding response to, and treatment and transport of, EMS patients to ensure appropriate care for all of New Jersey's citizens. Emergency Medical Care Advisory Board (EMCAB) - It establishes, through consolidation of numerous groups, task forces and advisory boards, a governing body - the EMCAB, which will include industry leaders serving to advise the Department of Health and Senior Services on prehospital issues, medical care and the establishment of provider standards. Expert members from their field will serve without compensation. Statewide Medical Direction - Identifies a Statewide Medical Director to function as the New Jersey’s lead physician in guiding the delivery of out-of-hospital medical care. Licensing of all Ambulances - This will allow the NJ Department of Health and Senior Services to utilize the most up-to-date medical protocols and standards for all of our citizens. It will also help with ease of implementation to allow NJ to move forward on aggressive new medical treatments. Statutory Authority- The EMS Task Force will gain authority to continue its great work on issues including disasters and terrorism, and to come together quickly in whatever situations our state and its citizens may face. Presently the NJ State First Aid Council is opposing the law. This group passes itself as a advocacy group of all volunteer base EMS agencies in the Sate, it is not. There are plenty of volunteer ambulance squads that are embarrassed by the NJ State First Aid Council. Presently it is possible to operate a volunteer ambulance in NJ with no trained personnel. There are no standards for volunteer ambulances. There is no requirement that local municipalities provide EMS. There are no standards to say how long it should take an ambulance to respond. These are not rural areas of the state, in fact there are no parts of NJ that would receive a “rural” designation. Volunteer ambulances are not inspected (Career based ambulances are in addition of career based ambulances must meet staffing and equipment regulations. Basically career based ambulances are regulated, volunteers are not.

I was one of the writers of NJ's Incident Rehabilitation Guidelines for EMS. If anyone wants a copy please drop a note to me at brian.carney@rwjuh.edu

Medics Played a Critical Role in Worcester Fire Donna Boynton, Staff Writer - TELEGRAM & GAZETTE (Massachusetts) Posted: Mon, 12/12/2011 - 03:53am Updated: Mon, 12/12/2011 - 03:59am State Fire Marshal Stephen D. Coan said yesterday that Worcester Emergency Medical Services paramedics headquartered at the former Providence Street fire station were among the first to report the fire at 49 Arlington St. that claimed the life of Firefighter Jon Davies. "They may not have been the first, and they may not have been the only ones to report the fire, but they have been critical in providing investigators with information about what they were first seeing," Fire Marshal Coan said, following a press conference. He and Deputy Chief Geoffrey Gardell could not confirm that the paramedics played a role in alerting and evacuating the residents prior to the arrival of the Fire Department. Fire Marshal Coan also did not elaborate on what the EMTs did see when they initially noticed the fire, saying it was part of the ongoing investigation. "They are playing a critical part in the investigation, and played a critical part in reporting the fire," he said. Worcester EMS is an ambulance service owned and operated by UMass Memorial Health Care and is under contract to provide ambulance service to the city. The city leases the station to the ambulance service. Worcester EMS ambulances are based at the former Providence Street station, and they were in quarters and observed the fire, Fire Marshal Coan said. The Providence Street station, nicknamed "The Rock," was closed in 2009 after serving as a fire station for 110 years. Closing the station was estimated to save the city between $85,000 and $100,000 a year in capital and operating costs. However, the measure was met with opposition from residents of the Grafton, Vernon and Union hills areas it served. At the time, the Fire Department said fire response would not be diminished by the closing, and that sentiment was echoed yesterday by City Manager Michael V. O'Brien, who said the response to the fire was not delayed and was "under three minutes," in line with national standards.

Just as a bench mark: We are a career department and will send a BLS ambulance and supervisor to every "working" fire in our areas. If a jobs comes in as someone trapped a paramedic unit will b sent. The supervisor to add units as they see fit. Typically one person monitors the fire channel in order to get a heads up with problems on the fire ground. EMS will check in with the IC and let him now we are there. Our FDs are very good with the rehab process. If the job goes to a third alarm we typically with send our mass casualty response unit.

In reference to Wayne Township, NJ.... There is no Wayne Twp Fire Department per se. The "Wayne Township Fire Department" is an umbrella name of 5 independently run fire companies, hence the name. No one in Wayne is hurting for money. For example check out the assortment of apparatus Wayne has at http://www.fdnytrucks.com/files/html/otherstates/Passaic%20County.htm More about the "WTFD" can be found here: http://www.waynetownship.com/fire.htm More about the Wayne First Aid Squad can be found at: http://www.waynefas.com/index.php

Motorcycle Medics Reach the Injured Faster in Austin In early June, emergency medical services (EMS) personnel in Austin, Texas, began using a different mode of transportation to reach the injured along the congested and accident-prone Interstate 35: medically equipped motorcycles. Rather than navigating the congested highway in ambulances, EMS personnel now hop on their motorcycles to respond to traffic accident victims — a tactic that originated in London, and has proven successful in Florida’s Miami-Dade County for nearly five years. Follow the article at: http://www.govtech.com/public-safety/Motorcycle-Medics-Reach-the-Injured-Faster-in-Austin.html?elq=29db0bd67ea84a1e96c72c07807d76ee

The anbulances look like PL Custom out of Manasquan, NJ

The EMS units stationed there account for 90% of the runs.

http://www.rescueleader.com/rescue/deliveries/spop_yonkers.htm

I am a emergency manager at a large hospital in NJ. Using hospitals as a shelter is full of issues. The historical reference would be hospitals in New Orleans during Katrina. The general public was taken in because the thought was the storm would be over in <12 hours. The all changed when the levees broken and the City was flooded. Many hospital lost power and HVAC and all the other comforts that people take for granted. Combine this with the fact these evacuees simply could not go anywhere else lead to some very "interesting" times. Unable to find food the "guests" decided to raid the pantry of the hospitals and enter other unauthorized areas. It and of itself this would have been only a major problem but the hospital still had to provide medical care, food and other services to the patients who were not evacuated as well as the staff taking care of them. Part of the Joint Commission elements of performance is that hospitals provide a means to shelter employees,their families, and possible their pets. This in light that a hospital needs staff to run it. The staff will be more inclined to support the hospital if the hospital can provide for their families. As witnessed in Katrina many people would not evacuate because provision had not been made for pets. This process is very complicated. There are 4500 employees at my hospital. If if have had two kids per family that is still 4500 kids I'm expected to shelter. A Special Needs Shelter is an emergency facility capable of providing special medical or nursing care which does not necessitate an acute care hospital setting. Despite that fact some patient do end up at a hospital. That is very expensive. We did take in 24 patients from a nursing home that was flood but we were able to put them in their own unit because we decompressed the patient volume due to the threat of Hurricane Irene. Even then we charged the nursing home for our services. In turn the nursing home sought relief from FEMA. Another issue we ran into is taking care of nursing home evacuees from facilities in South Jersey. many of these patients were transported without their medical records nor a list of medications. Many couldn't even tell us the name of their medication because when in a nursing home someone came at the appointed time and told them to take X, Y, and Z. Fortunately these patients were not transported directly to our hospital but when the reach the college facility they were using as a shelter (BTW had no medical services available) they were subsequently transport to the hospital because of medical issues. One patient had a history of a stroke that left him without the ability to speak, making a chance of getting even something as simple as a name a hardship. Combine all these issues into a hospital that had a very small margin of staffing to beds, an overcrowded ED even on the best of days. Pease remember, first and foremost, hospitals is an acute care facility providing healthcare for patients. As such, the hospital's resources are already committed to those who need them most, and the hospital is not equipped to act as a shelter during a disaster.

Ignorance is bliss. A couple of years ago a civilian showed up at fire headquarters with crystallized ether. Shows it to the guy working the desk watch who doesn't realize the danger and takes the jar from the civilian and brings it up to the on duty deputy chief. The DC looks and say "WTF!" and evacuated the house and calls the local PD who in turn calls the State Police Bomb Squad, County Haz Mat, and EMS. The Bomb Squad arrives, dress up in their suits and bring the jar back down stairs and put it in the kettle and drive a couple of blocks to a vacant area and blow up the jar. Next class held was "Dangers of Crystallized Ether". You'd be surprised how much of this stuff in found on shelves in police evidence lockers and no one has a clue how dangerous it is.

Don't quote me but it looks alot like some of the decon units made for the MABAS in the Chicago area. THose units were built by Modec out of Henderson, Colorado.

Further down the road here in the Garden State.... http://www.mycentraljersey.com/article/20111021/NJNEWS/310210022/North-Plainfield-firefighters-don-pink-breast-cancer-awareness?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE North Plainfield firefighters don pink for breast cancer awareness Fire officials to sell special department T-shirts at tonight's high-school football game NORTH PLAINFIELD — Borough firefighters are going pink for Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and at tonight’s North Plainfield High School football game they’ll be urging others to do the same. Fire officials at the start of October traded in their traditional station uniform shirts for special ones with bold pink ribbon designs to be worn on duty, Chief William Eaton explained, and those shirts will be available for $15 apiece at the 7 p.m. game against Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School at Krausche Field. Proceeds from the sale will benefit Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the nation’s largest organization to promote awareness and prevention of breast cancer. The sale is being coordinated by North Plainfield Firefighters International Association of Fire Fighters Local No. 2958, representing nearly 300,000 emergency responders across the country. Krausche Field is located near the intersection of Walnut Street and Wilson Avenue just off U.S. Route 22 East.

http://blogs.bostonmagazine.com/boston_daily/2011/09/28/learning-tragedy-boston-fire-department/ Learning from Tragedy at the Boston Fire Department On the afternoon of January 9, 2009, the brakes on Ladder Company 26 failed, and the truck ran down Parker Street in Mission Hill, cutting across Huntington Street, and crashing into a building, taking the life of Lt. Kevin Kelley and injuring the driver and several other passengers. Following the accident, the City commissioned an outside study of the Boston Fire Department’s fleet management practices that put forward some harsh findings about the BFD and provided a clear set of recommendations. The study found that the fleet’s management was largely haphazard, as evidenced by a vicious cycle of poorly qualified mechanics who either did questionable work or were unable to properly judge work done by outside vendors, so firefighters became reluctant to report problems and get trucks serviced. A separate inquiry into the crash found multiple breakdowns in protocol — improper parts, limited testing, weak documentation. Click on link for complete article

The Fire Department provides fire suppression, fire prevention and emergency medical care to the Township of Union. In addition to fires and medical aids, the Department responds to other emergency calls such as rescues, highway accidents, hazardous material incidents, etc. 93% of all Firefighters are also certified Emergency Medical Technicians, the remaining are 1st responder qualified. All Firefighters are certified to utilize Semi-Automatic External Defibrillators “SAED” that are carried on all fire apparatus, ambulances and command vehicles. These “SAED” are available for all medical incidents from three (3) decentralized locations providing minimum response times. The Department operates five (5) in-service, five (5) recall/reserve fire apparatus, three (3) basic life support ambulances, a tactical support unit, mobile decon unit, and three (3) special hazard response vehicles from three (3) stations. The Union Fire Dept. is part of the Urban Area Security Initiative, and staff a large caliber firefighting foam and water delivery system, used to combat the bulk fuel and chemical fires on land and sea in the NJ/NY metro area. Fire Headquarters – 1 Bond Drive, Station No. 2 – 2493 Vauxhall Road and Station No. 3 – 1221 Morris Avenue. All Stations are manned 24 hours a day by career Firefighters. In addition to a regular complement of one hundred seven (107) career firefighters, the Department employs six (6) civilians. There are approximately seven (7) volunteer firefighters (paid on-call) who respond to certain incidents via a radio paging system.

Anthing surround the City of Newark is career. In Essex County I think Livingston, Fairfield, Cedar Grove, Rosesland, Essex Fells, Verona, North Caldwell, and West Caldwell are all volunteer. Bergen County: Lyndehurst, North Arlington, Wallington Hudson County: Seacacus Not to sure who is volunteer or mixed or all careeer in Union County. Elizabeth is all career. Brian

Take a look at the construction of Water Tunnel 3 in NYC. That construction began in 1970 and its not projected to be finished until 2020. That's 50 years. I've grown up watching the construction project moved from the Bronx and into Manhattan. I was a under 10 when the project was along the Harlem River near the Alexander Hamilton Bridge and will be 57 when it is completed. While that is underground any other acquaduct might be above ground. It would take years in planning to even get any project off the ground.

High Intensity Lighting Program. I'm 98% sure of the meaning even if the "E" doesn't stand for intensity. Sounds better then HILP I guess.

Press of Atlantic City 09/09/2011, Page A01 http://www.pressofat...1cc4c03286.html Bill restricts taking accident-scene photos, video

Great photos. My wife freaks when I stop to take a photo of something public safety related. I yell back at her saying its 10 seconds out of her life. I didn't know the Sun was visable from Seattle. I spent 5 days in Seattle a couple of years ago. I've had better weather in Ireland. Overcast and foggy for 5 days straight. The Sub cam out on my drive to the airport, figures.

http://princeton.patch.com/articles/county-honors-princeton-emt-michael-kenwood-audio#video-7556260