EMS System Review - State of New Jersey

State of New Jersey, DHSS, OEMSConsulting Services: EMS System ReviewVII. ADVANCED LIFE SUPPORT DELIVERYThis chapter reviews the New Jersey Advanced Life Support (ALS) Delivery system andrecommends changes for the future. New Jersey is fortunate to have excellent ALS clinical careprojects. Paramedics are well-trained and an active cadre of physicians provide close medicaloversight. The primary challenges to the ALS system are systemic. Financial issues arethreatening the infrastructure of hospital-based ALS as they struggle to keep their ALS programsprofitable and to maintain adequate staffing.Current ALS SystemThere are 21 ALS “projects” authorized to provide ALS in New Jersey. 58 Each ALSproject is hospital-based except for one that is a consortium of hospitals that functions as aprivate corporation. ALS is operated as a two-tiered system, providing ALS with non-transportunits, followed by volunteer or licensed BLS units to provide transport when needed. Threeprojects, responding from hospitals in Newark, New Brunswick and Jersey City, were grantedpermission at the time of Certificate of Need designation to transport ALS patients. MONOC andany other programs with transport capable units are permitted to run ALS transport capable unitsthat can transport if a BLS unit is not available or if they encounter a patient whose conditioncannot warrant waiting for a BLS transport unit.A majority of the ALS projects are located in larger jurisdictions and coastal areas thathave higher population density. Figure 24 shows the location of each ALS project.58 The term “project” was originally used because the fate of ALS programs was not guaranteed. This term has stuckthroughout the years.TriData, a Division of 106September 2007System Planning Corporation