Please Help Support NJ EMS!!!

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medicsb

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It only takes 20 seconds to make the phone call and about 1 minute to send the email!

EMS Legislation S818/A2095 has passed their respective houses and is now on the Governor's desk to be either signed or vetoed. Unfortunately, there are many people who are fiercely fighting the passage of this bill, particularly the NJ First Aid Council.


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.

What will this bill do?

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.


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.

Go to www.supportnjems.com for more information!

THANK YOU!
 
When is this expected to be signed into law/vetoed and when would it take effect?

(And yes, I filled out the form)
 
If I recall correctly, the governor has 45 days to act. It was passed on December 15th, so I think he would have to sign or veto it by January 29th or 30th. If he does nothing, it passes by default.
 
Just out of curiosity, what is the First Aid Council's argument against this bill?
 
If I remember correctly, volunteer retention (because they can no longer staff trucks with just first responders). Something like a "You're trying to push the volunteers out of it" kind of thing.
Personally I think it's a great bill. NJ EMS is kind of messed up now.
 
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The NJFAC argument is essentially that it will kill volunteer ambulance services through costs involved with ambulance inspections, criminal background checks, etc.

Their position is here: http://www.njsfac.org/s818.shtml
 
rescue1 said:
If I remember correctly, volunteer retention (because they can no longer staff trucks with just first responders). Something like a "You're trying to push the volunteers out of it" kind of thing.
Personally I think it's a great bill. NJ EMS is kind of messed up now.
Click to expand...

I am kinda with ya on that also
 
It is a great bill. NJ first aid committee or whatever they are called helped create the bill they now oppose.
 
Looks like the oldies just rolled over in their graves.

I don't know anything about NJEMS but I highly doubt ALS services are charging anything let alone an ALS rate for an AMA.
 
I'll check with my friend in NJ, but I'm positive they only bill for transport, not response.

Also, I'd like to say that I'm leery of an ambulance service staffed entirely with people over the age of 60.

EDIT: My friend says that they only bill for transport, at least in Trenton where he works.
 
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I worked for the MICU covering the 2 counties south of Trenton and we only billed for transports.
 
You'll notice that the many of the comments in favor are from MONOC, which is a hospital corporation that provides ALS services through a wide swath of the state. They're something of the evil empire of NJ EMS, since we don't have AMR or Rural Metro or any of those really big providers here.

Anyway, if I were king, I would make some changes. The problem isn't really with the licensed agencies (who bill) or the First Aid Council (who do not bill), but rather with state law that permits volunteer agencies to be unaligned (neither licensed by the state nor approved by the NJSFAC). That is where this whole idea of an ambulance showing up without any EMTs comes from. At the very least, anyone running an ambulance squad should answer to SOME standard. Otherwise, the standards of the State and the NJSFAC are almost exactly the same (the state requires 2 EMTs on each truck, the FAC only 1 being the major ones. The others are very minor - do you carry one set or two of AED pads, is a scoop stretcher required or optional, do you need a certain amount of 4x4s, or only a 'sufficient amount'. That sort of thing).
 
Are they and evil empire because of poor patient care and/or neglect of employees, or just because they're big and have lots of ambulances?

I mean, this bill was based on a study that gave a scathing account of NJ EMS, if I recall. Was that study so wrong that this bill should be vetoed?

I'm just curious to hear the other side of the story besides "it will kill the volunteers"
 
rescue1 said:
Are they and evil empire because of poor patient care and/or neglect of employees, or just because they're big and have lots of ambulances?

I mean, this bill was based on a study that gave a scathing account of NJ EMS, if I recall. Was that study so wrong that this bill should be vetoed?

I'm just curious to hear the other side of the story besides "it will kill the volunteers"
Click to expand...

They arent the evil empire, only if you live in two counties do they really hold control over ALS, MONmouth and OCean, in the north Jersey are they compete with plenty of other agencies. they are just a big company

The NJSFAC doesnt like the bill becuase they arent in control anymore. They used to have 4 seats on the EMS council, which was made up of volunteer and private EMS. Under the new bill, the EMS council is replaced with the EMCAB, and has more people on it, fire-based, police-based, municipal thrid service, volunteer, paid. But the NJSFAC only gets one seat

it doesnt kill volunteers, it kills the FAC. All ambulances have to be inspected by the DOH instead of the NJSFAC "inspection" which was totally questionable, it requires 1 EMT on the truck, NJSFAC recommended 1 EMT, but many FAC squads ran with 2 MFRs or a driver and a MFR

Every EMT and MIC gets a license from the state board of medical control, just like a doctor or a nurse, so they fall under the same standards of medical professionalism as any other person in the field.

The FAC thinks that volunteers shouldnt have to pay for ANYTHING, registration, recertification, licensure, equipment, training
 
Some ALS projects bill for non-transports. It is entirely project specific. That means if the ALS gets there before the BLS, puts the person on the monitor, takes a BP, fills a chart out, and lets BLS take the person to the hospital solo, then the patient will receive a bill. I think Somerset ALS does this, I know Middlesex county, Mercer county, and parts of Essex County do not. But it's all dependent on the individual system, there is NO state standard.
rescue1 said:
Are they and evil empire because of poor patient care and/or neglect of employees, or just because they're big and have lots of ambulances?
Click to expand...
They are the evil empire because they provide poor patient care (on the BLS level anyway, but it is all individually dependent as with everything), treat their employees like crap (or so I am told by many of their employees), pay their employees poor wages, and play fast and lose with a lot of their contracts.

They are the ALS provider in Monmouth & Ocean county, and do A LOT of IFTs as well. They only have 1 or 2 BLS 911 contracts though, in the two counties, and usually that is just daytime contracts. They try to expand, often moved in on new areas, signed $0 contracts for BLS services (which are appealing to towns, since it costs nothing, and they just bill the residents), kicking out the existing provider or volunteer EMS agency, but they usually end up getting thrown out before the year is up because the town sees that they fail to give what they promise.

That is why they are the evil empire.
Bullets said:
They arent the evil empire, only if you live in two counties do they really hold control over ALS, MONmouth and OCean, in the north Jersey are they compete with plenty of other agencies. they are just a big company
Click to expand...
They don't compete with anyone in the north (or the south for that matter); they have ALS contacts, which are given by the state, not competed over. They only have 2 BLS contracts up north, both in cities in Essex County. And they are all about making money, like sending one of their own ambulances from 3 towns over for a call instead of requesting mutual aid from the neighboring town (all paid btw).

BTW, I supported this bill and emailed the governor. And if it brings down the NJFAC, even better.
 
My former project billed for ALS assessment. If we assess and release to BLS, we bill.
mONOc (cant spell MONOC without O NO!!!) just plain sucks. They DO have some good people, but I saw a lot of lazyness, stupidity, low pay and overworked people. They also left a LARGE swath of southern Ocean County uncovered, and would not let go of the CON for anyone else to provide care, but they refused to put a needed unit there.
MONOC directors can go to hell as far as I am concerned.
 
This bill will not help FD start running fired based EMS will it?
 
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