EMS System Review - State of New Jersey

State of New Jersey, DHSS, OEMSConsulting Services: EMS System Reviewof 0.69 is worth commenting about. This is greater than other components, indicating that theremay be geographical or other variables that affected the scoring.Figure 13: Scores for Public AccessPublic AccessGroup Scores Average 2.69 (Emerging)43.53Score 1 - 52.521.510.501GroupsCommunication Systems – The operative word in this component is system as thecurrent state of EMS communications in New Jersey suffers from what academics call“reductionism.” This occurs when the leadership views the system as the sum of its individualparts instead of each part making all other parts greater: synergism. There are areas where thereis superb technology, but only a small area benefits from it, while other areas work with archaictechnologies that negatively affect large areas.New Jersey is beginning to firmly address this issue. In May 2007, the New JerseyLegislature passed and Governor Corzine signed legislation requiring each of New Jersey’s 21counties to develop countywide 911 primary access points. This is an excellent start, but mustcontinue to evolve into county-level primary dispatch points. This has come to fruition insouthern New Jersey, but it has not yet permeated the northern parts of the state. In many areas,small communications centers staffed by one police officer or dispatcher provide dispatchservice to one town.A profound example of the above involves a northern New Jersey ALS unit that wasrequired to install seven different radios so all of their response area could be serviced (Figure14).TriData, a Division of 44September 2007System Planning Corporation