Making municipalities responsible for emergency medical services Making municipalities responsible for emergency medical services -- just as they are for police and fire protection -- along with standardizing 911 service and declaring one set of training and certification rules for all EMS personnel, including volunteers, is an agenda that New Jersey should have attended to long ago.

Legislation drafted last month by a state EMS advisory committee lays out a good blueprint for reforming the state's disjointed EMS system. Now someone must provide the blueprint for paying for it all.

State Sen. Joseph Vitale, chairman of the Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee, has promised to hold hearings on the EMS legislation early next year and says it could cost $10 million to $14 million to implement comprehensive change. The data make it clear, however, that the human cost will be dear if New Jersey delays a much-needed EMS restructuring.

According to a study commissioned by the Legislature and released last year, nearly 14,000 people a year in this state never get the paramedic care their conditions require on the way to the hospital. There are too few paramedic units, and 911 systems, which vary from one municipal or regional operation to another, often affect whether the best unit is dispatched to a call and how quickly.

Moreover, the volunteer squads on which many areas depend are increasingly hard-pressed to recruit and retain personnel and secure enough money to operate.

Although many volunteers stay current with training and equipment, they are not regulated by the state, so there is wide variation in quality among squads. That problem must be addressed.New Jersey must find a way to organize services for the maximum recovery of federal Medicare and Medicaid dollars as well as private insurance funding for EMS and find ways to subsidize the rest.

Rather than try to operate their own unique municipal EMS systems, towns may have to join county or regional programs to meet a new EMS mandate. Those configurations, if properly coordinated, are the most efficient and effective. The positive experience in other states provides the evidence. Regionalization of EMS could point the way to a more logical configuration for other public safety systems.

N.J. releases hospital performance report, reviews patient safety for facilitiesHospital physicians, nurses and other medical workers committed nearly 9,400 "serious medical errors’’ in 2007 that led to patients developing infections, blood clots and other conditions that threatened their health, a report released today concludes.

The report, by the state Department of Health and Senior Services, is the first to reveal where mistakes occur, and how the public may use the information to shop for the best hospital care. Previous hospital "report cards" simply graded hospitals on the quality of their medical care and had no specific information about where and how often mistakes happen.Disconcerting numbers of preventable medical errors are occurring in our health facilities. Now consumers will know these results,’’ Patricia Kelmar said, associate state director for advocacy for AARP-New Jersey, which pushed for the tougher reporting requirements. "Equally important, every hospital can see their own levels of mistakes compared to others, which we hope will encourage them to make the changes necessary to improve patient safety throughout the state."

Collectively, New Jersey’s 72 hospitals committed more mistakes than the national average in how frequently surgical patients developed an infection, and how frequently their surgical wounds "split open,’’ according to the report.

"By publicly reporting hospital’s scores, we encourage all hospitals to improve care,’’ said Health Commissioner Heather Howard.

New Jersey hospitals committed as many or fewer errors than other hospitals nationally in 10 other areas, including leaving an instrument inside a patient during surgery; accidentally puncturing an organ; giving the wrong blood type; injuring a mother or baby during a vaginal delivery; and failing to prevent hip fractures, punctured lungs, bleeding after surgery, and blood clots in the lungs and large veins.

On quality, the report card judged how hospitals responded to patients suffering a heart attack and heart failure, battling pneumonia and undergoing surgery. Only one hospital scored the highest score of 100 in all four areas: Hackettstown Regional Medical Center in Warren County.

"It takes an entire team, not just one individual, to make quality a priority,’’ Hackettstown Regional Medical Center President and CEO Gene C. Milton said. "This is something our hospital looks at closely.’’

St. Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston is an example of how one facility could perform exceptional in some areas and below par in others.

St. Barnabas made more mistakes than the national average in four of the 12 patient safety measures: accidentally puncturing an internal organ; causing injuries to mother and infant during a vaginal delivery; puncturing a lung; and failing to prevent blood clots in the lung or large veins.

But in measuring quality, St. Barnabas achieved perfect scores of 100 in treating heart failure and heart attacks, and ranked in the top 10 percent for providing surgical care.

The report is an important exercise for hospitals executive and employees to demand more of themselves, said Fred Jacobs, executive vice president for the Saint Barnabas Health Care System and Director of its Quality Institute.

"It’s important for hospitals to develop an environment of quality,’’ said Jacobs, a former state health commissioner who sat on a committee that designed the report. "The corporate board has given the direction that we will be in top 10 percent of hospitals,’’ Jacobs said.

NEVER FORGET

The National Registry of EMT's practical examination for NJ EMT'sApplicants for EMT-B licensure in New Jersey will be required to pass the 120 hour DOT course curriculum (Basic EMT course schedule for New Jersey) and then The National Registry of EMT's practical examination and computer based exam. EMT-B under the Department of Transportations guidelines are the same as the old EMT-A designation in New Jersey. The state moved to using the NREMT certification as bases for its own state EMT certification. The state has provided a page on their website to answer many common questions about the transition from the state certification to the one from the DOT based curriculum and NREMT certification.Ut oh you guys are gona fail!!!!!!!">WEB SITE

Emergency medical workers describe their initial response to the police-involved shooting on Reed Street in Jersey City Emergency medical workers described a horrific scene when they responded yesterday morning to 24 Reed St., where five police officers were shot and two suspects were killed by police.

It was "like a horror movie, very, very stressful," EMT August Johansen said outside the Jersey City Medical Center yesterday afternoon. "There was blood everywhere. . Scary wasn't the word.

Johansen feared for his life when he was rushed into the building surrounded by emergency services officers who surrounded him with their shields to protect him as they climbed to the third floor of the 21-unit apartment building.

"I have kids to worry about, but I was also worried about the officer," he said. "That's what our job is."

Emergency workers were called to the scene at about 5 a.m. on a report of a shooting involving an officer.

Within an hour, though, four more officers would be shot, three of them inside the Reed Street building during an exchange of gunfire that Johansen said lasted less than a minute. The two most seriously injured officers were carried down to the street by police officers.

Emergency Medical Technician Ashleigh Grillot worked on Jersey City Police Officer Marc DiNardo, who was shot in the face and remains in critical condition at the hospital.

There was blood everywhere, she said, adding that it was difficult to give him oxygen because of the face wound.

Dr. Bruno Molino later described the wound as being on the left side of DiNardo's face below the eye, involving the sinus and jaw. He'll need reconstructive surgery, the doctor said.

EMT Michael Saul treated the other critically injured cop, Officer Michael Camacho, who was shot in the neck.

"They were both in pretty bad condition," Saul said. "He was just asking for help, that he was going to be all right."

Molino said a bullet or shell was removed from Camacho's neck and given to police as evidence.

When Johansen reached the floor where the four officers where shot and two suspects killed, he was ordered to drop to his knees by the machine gun-toting officers for his own protection. It turned out there were no more officers needing treatment, but Johansen did see the bullet-riddled bodies of the two suspects on the floor, he said.

"I couldn't even guess" how many times they'd been shot, he said. "There was blood everywhere."

Hit-run driver injures Jersey City man

A surveillance camera two blocks away at Marin and Eighth Street shows the pickup truck moments before it struck Torres.

Torres was treated by Jersey City paramedics on scene then rushed to the Jersey City Medical Center.

Ricardo Torres lost a kidney, fractured his pelvis, suffered facial injuries and had his spleen removed.

Jersey City streets as see thru the eyes of an EMT.

Judge dismisses Jersey City man's lawsuit charging Hudson dispatch bungleA judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought against the city by the father of three children who were brutally stabbed- two of them fatally- allegedly by Dwayne Wilson in their Jersey City home in 2005. The suit charged the city bungled 911 calls concerning the incident, officials said.

The father of the children, D'Artagnan Manzano, sued the city, Police Officers Jose M. Santana and Ernest Vidal, 911 operator Laura Jean Petersen and radio dispatcher Michael E. Clark.

Judge Frances Antonin dismissed the case on April 15, writing that the plaintiff failed to show evidence "of willful or wanton disregard for plaintiff's safety" on the part of 911 call takers and police dispatchers that would have superseded their right to immunity.

Three teens suffered non-life threatening gunshot wounds when a shoot-out erupted at Ferris Triangle Park in the Greenville area of Jersey City shortly before 5 p.m.A 15-year-old girl shot in the stomach was treated by Jersey city EMT's and Paramedics. She was taken to JCMC where she underwent surgery at the Jersey City Medical Center and was in stable condition.

Two 17-year-old boys were also shot - one in the right leg, the other in both legs.
One of the boys was treated by AmCare EMT's and transported to JCMC
The other was treated and transported by JCMC paramedics.

The three teens were not found with any weapons and were not charged with any crimes

Called to the scene at 7:55 p.m. Friday, police found a 19-year-old Jersey City man, being treated by EMS for a gunshot wound to his left kneecap, reports said.But at the Jersey City Medical Center, doctors found three additional gunshot wounds-one in his upper left thigh, another in a knee, and another bullet hole in his left buttock, reports said.

The North Hudson Regional Fire & Rescue plans to appeal a recent court order they claim creates "reverse discrimination" in their hiring requirements, according to a report in the Record of Hackensack.The court order blocked the department from hiring new recruits until it changed it's hiring practices -- which was based on residency requirements but as a result excluded areas mainly populated by black residents, the report said.The North Hudson Regional Fire & Rescue is run by Dominick Marino.

With support from the mayors of Guttenberg, North Bergen, Union City, Weehawken and West New York -- the towns that formed the regional department in 1998 -- the fire and rescue squad's executive board will appeal a Feb. 18 injunction issued by by a U.S. district judge, the report said.