All options under review for Jackson EMS provider
BY DAVE BENJAMIN Staff Writer

JACKSON - There are still a lot of unanswered questions regarding which emergency medical services (EMS) provider should be selected to supply basic life support (BLS) responses in Jackson.

"We are waiting for all the information to come back," Mayor Mark Seda said this week. "I have letters out to Quality Medical Transport and to MONOC (the Monmouth Ocean Hospital Service Corp.) to prepare their presentations for review. When I hear back from all parties involved, we'll set a date" for an informational meeting.

Quality Medical Transport and MONOC responded to Jackson's recent request for proposals to provide BLS services.

Regardless of how township officials choose to proceed with BLS coverage, MONOC will continue to provide advanced life support (ALS) coverage to Jackson.

Within their response, representatives of Quality Medical Transport noted that the firm has no past performance of the same or similar service. When asked to describe the firm's ability to provide the services in a timely fashion, including staffing, familiarity and equipment, Quality Medical's representatives responded, "We will situate personnel, vehicles and equipment within Jackson 24/7 if requested. We are state-licensed BLS providers. We carry all required equipment and materials. … Our ambulances are dispatched from the closest of our five stations in Ocean County, or a designated staging area in the township. We answer 911 calls."

Seda said Quality Medical's representatives "will have the opportunity to explain their operation and the level of service they can provide."

MONOC vehicles and the Jackson Volunteer First Aid Squad are usually stationed at the public works building, the mayor said. Response time to a call depends upon where the ambulances are located. MONOC currently provides daytime BLS responses in the township.

"What they would consider a good response time is 10 minutes to any location in town," the mayor said. "That's not saying every call will be 10 minutes, but to say we can trim down the response time from 15 or 20 minutes to 10 minutes is reasonable. You can do it."

Seda said MONOC representatives indicated that a third ambulance would be provided in town if Jackson officials request it.

Seda said, "Quality Medical has no experience in Jackson, so I tend to believe that MONOC's $150,000 is what they would really require in order to maintain a third rig in town. You can't really compare Quality Medical's bid of zero ($0) to MONOC's bid of $150,000 because MONOC has the experience of several years in town. They know what the town generates in income for their company. Life has a certain inherent value and we shouldn't put a price tag on that."

Another option on the emergency medical services table would be for township officials to institute a professional municipal first aid squad that would operate under the auspices of the Jackson Police Department.

"When I presented the fact that it would cost us a substantial amount of money to get the (municipal) program up and running until it was self-sustainable, that price became 'It's not worth raising taxes,' " Seda said. "The people have to decide what they really want to do."

A municipal EMS squad with a community service officer (CSO) could cost taxpayers for squad member training, pensions and benefits, as well as for ambulances, equipment, supplies and maintenance.

Seda said the police department might have to be expanded to cover the scope of the work.

"I'm not putting a price on life, but it has to be cost-effective and it has to make sense," the mayor said.

Seda said two other items have to be considered: whether people really care about response times and whether that is really more important than anything else in the world.

"That comes with a price," he said. "That price would be putting in a CSO program that we manage and whatever it takes to put it into place," the mayor said. "But if the value of that life now needs to be discounted and the price becomes a reality, and people want the service and they don't necessarily want to pay much for it, then there is a second window you can look at, and that would be a MONOC program."

Seda said the MONOC program does not guarantee anything

"Overall the people should have a right to decide on what they want and how they want their medical response team to react. If they decide that the cost factor is too much, then they'll push for MONOC or Quality Medical" instead of the municipal response team. "It's a lot like the gypsy moth [spraying]," he said, referring to another significant financial issue confronting Jackson.

"The EMS program will take time to discuss," Seda said. "It will take time to get the information, and when I have all the documentation and when MONOC and first aid are ready to give their presentations, we will go ahead with a meeting."

He said there could be an initial meeting in January.

"If we had it in December, people will say we're rushing because people are away for the holidays," he said. "If we have it in January, most of the snowbirds (in Jackson's adult communities) will have already left. I'm going to be accused of a million things, so I'm not rushing anything. Unfortunately, lives are at stake and there is [always] the possibility of another 20- or 40-minute response time. [Others will say] we took too long to implement the program."

Seda said his part in this discussion is to get the program ready to go so that a decision can be made.

"It's a pretty simple decision," he said. "It's MONOC, or a company like MONOC, or we control it."

Township Council President Ann Updegrave said an advisory committee is examining the EMS issue. Updegrave said MONOC and the first aid squad had representatives at the committee's last meeting. Residents were in attendance at the public meeting.

"There will be a follow-up meeting after the mayor has his public forum, if the people want it," Updegrave said. "If the people are happy with the public forum, a meeting won't be necessary. We are open to whatever the public wants to do."

Updegrave said she has not had contact with representatives of Quality Medical Transport, but said she expects to speak with the firm soon about its responses to Jackson's request for proposals.