DELAYED AMBULANCE INCIDENT PROMPTS EMERGENCY RESPONSE CHANGES

When an eight-year-old boy suffering a seizure was forced to wait up to 16 minutes for an ambulance in March, there was an outcry by parents and residents.

Now the Maplewood Fire Department has issued a string of changes to its system in response.

See this release from the fire chief:

Maplewood Fire Chief Michael Dingelstedt announced revised protocols for emergency medical services in response to concerns raised about the response time when an eight year old suffered a seizure on March 23^rd.
The Fire Department completed a review of dispatching procedures and revised its operating procedures as described below. Chief Dingelstedt consulted with fire department officer’s and the Township Committee’s Public Safety Committee on the design of these revisions.

1. The South Orange Rescue Squad (SORS) will be the primary back-up ambulance to Maplewood during the evening and weekend hours when they have a crew available.
2. MONOC will be the primary back-up ambulance to Maplewood during the hours that the SORS is not in service.
3. When SORS and MONOC are both not available, secondary mutual aid will be provided to Maplewood by the following agencies in the order shown: (1) University Hospital EMS; (2) Union Township EMS; and (3) Union County EMS.
4. Anytime a mutual aid ambulance is dispatched to Maplewood, REMCS will notify the Maplewood Fire Department’s on-duty platoon commander of the nature of the call in order to maintain situational awareness. REMCS is the Regional Emergency Medical Communications System of Metropolitan New Jersey, which is housed at University Hospital.
5. On life-threatening emergencies, the Maplewood Fire Department will continue to respond with an engine or ladder when the Department’s ambulance is out on a call.