EMS drivers license

[SeeNoMore]

I think a lot of it has to do with state mandates that hold us back from being able to perform a lot of which other states allow EMTs to do. It also probably has to do with the fact that there are so many hospitals in NJ and there is such a dense population that we usually are not with the patients long before we turn them over.. It's not nessisary that we do much because they'll be at the hospital soon. Honestly ALS is becoming less and less useful in NJ.. They usually aren't able to ketch up with us before we make it to the hospital.

You are making some pretty broad statements. NJ runs the gamut from dense urban areas to fairly rural regions with 20+ minute transport times (to an appropriate hospital). My experience has been that Paramedics often arrive as pt's are being loaded into the ambulance or just before, and are able to initiate treatment en route. But that is just anecdotal. I will have to look up what percentage of calls dispatched ALS are transported BLS due to lack of timely ALS arrival. I am not sure if that data is available for the whole state, I know specific services keep track of it.

 

[ZombieEMT]

As a provider from New Jersey, I have to say that it depends on the area. In the town where I volunteer, we almost always have an ALS unit when needed. The county has five units dedicated to the county. Our town also sits on the boarder and we can get ALS from the neighboring county. One of the ALS units is actually stationed at their headquarters in the same town as us, and frequently arrives before us. For this squad, we have about 5 local hospitals, all 10-15 minutes away.

At my full-time job there is a hospital the next town over, and for my part time job, there is a hospital in town. Many times, we are loaded and transporting before ALS arrives. Due to the close proximity to the hospital, the ALS is normally recalled. Very rarely, especially at my part time job, do we actually have ALS on board for ALS patients.