Measure Would Permit Volunteer Paramedics to Assist in Mobile Intensive Care Units

Legislation sponsored by Senator Robert Singer to help address a critical shortage of paramedics gained Senate approval today.

Legislation sponsored by Sen. Robert Singer to help address a critical shortage of paramedics was approved by the Senate. (Pixabay)

Singer’s bill, A-6132/S-4235, would allow volunteer paramedics to respond to emergencies and operate within mobile intensive care units.

“There is a growing crisis in New Jersey and across the nation, and the pandemic has made things that much worse,” said Singer (R-30). “The critical need for skilled paramedics far exceeds the current supply, and this bill will help close the gap with volunteers who are trained, field-tested and willing to help. It will allow us to have more paramedics on the road and faster response times to emergencies.”

A recent survey conducted by the American Ambulance Association found that nearly a third of the workforce left their ambulance companies after less than a year. It also found that turnover among paramedics and EMTs average close to 30 percent each year, or more than 100 percent turnover every four years.

“Those kinds of statistics are unsustainable. In New Jersey we have to do something to protect the emergency services so they are available when we need them,” Singer said. “This measure builds on a program that has been safely and efficiently operated for more than a decade in Northern Ocean County and it can be just as effective in the rest of the state.”

Singer’s bill codifies an active program in Ocean County that is operated by RWJBarnabas Health after years under the auspices of Monmouth Ocean Hospital Services Corporation. The current program is approved to use volunteer advanced life support squads and paramedics.