Council weighs options for medical responses
Decision about service in Jackson may come in near future
BY DAVE BENJAMIN Staff Writer

JACKSON - A final decision as to how Basic Life Support (BLS) emergency medical services will be provided in Jackson may be made when the Township Council meets on Feb. 11.

The issue of a BLS provider has been discussed for the past few months, with several options on the table. Council members have received bids from two firms that are interested in being awarded a contract and they have discussed the possibility of establishing a municipal BLS response team.

The issue of emergency medical services was the subject of a public meeting on Jan. 23.

At the present time, BLS services in Jackson are provided by the Monmouth- Ocean Hospital Service Corporation (MONOC) between 5 a.m. and 6 p.m.

Between 6 p.m. and 5 a.m. the Jackson Volunteer First Aid Squad provides BLS coverage in the municipality.

Advanced Life Support (ALS) services are provided in Jackson by MONOC 24 hours a day and will continue to be provided by MONOC regardless of what the council decides to do with the BLS response program.

At the conclusion of last week's fourhour public meeting some council members said they needed more time to decide what to do about the BLS program.

Jackson's Director of Public Safety Matthew Kunz represented the proposed Community Service Officer (CSO) program (a municipal BLS response team); MONOC Vice President Jeffrey Behm represented his firm; Quality Medical Transport operations manager Sal Murante Sr. and his wife, Deborah, the company's Emergency Medical Services (EMS) director, represented their firm; and members of the Jackson Volunteer First Aid Squad were also present.

Council PresidentAnn Updegrave said some of the evening's presentations did not provide all of the information officials need in order to decide how to proceed.

"I already have my preference but I want to have some response time issues looked into. I want the ad-hoc committee put together and I want to have all the information necessary to complete the presentation at the next council meeting. We want the best choice and that's what it's all about," she said.

Updegrave said she believes there should be better internal control, with monthly meetings among an ad-hoc EMS committee and the mayor.

Councilwoman Emily Ingram said, "I also feel that whomever we choose should be at the meeting to answer questions from the council and the residents. It seems like the trail of how this is all working, the phone calls going through the county, going through 911 etc., [should be examined]. Perhaps the 911 system has to be tweaked or updated to make it better. We need to put this to rest. The residents are waiting for us to make a decision, so I'm ready to take a vote tonight."

Ingram said her preference is for Quality Medical Transport to provide three ambulances between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. and to have the Jackson Volunteer First Aid Squad cover the remainder of the day.

Councilman Scott Martin said, "We definitely need greater oversight. If there was a problem with response time, [we need to know] what the problem was."

Martin thanked Mayor Mark Seda for starting the process of examining Jackson's BLS service and applauded the community members for taking part in the process.

"I think we need three vehicles from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.We need to support our first aid squad, our hard-working volunteers. Quality Medical Transport indicated they would give that backup support and that is where my preference lies," Martin said.

Councilman Angelo Stallone said he believes a lot of information was provided.

"A lot of information is still forthcoming," Stallone said. "If I were to vote tonight Iwould vote to give the first aid squadmore money. The $20,000 [themunicipality gives the volunteer squad] is not enough."

But as to selecting a daytime BLS provider, Stallone said he preferred to hold off on voting.

"I would like to hold my vote until the next council meeting so I can get additional information and make an educated guess and not force something at midnight," the councilman said.

Councilman Jason Gudaitis thanked the presenters and said he would like to postpone his vote until the next council meeting. He said he would volunteer to sit on an ad-hoc committee and examine the issue.

During the presentations Kunz said Seda indicated that his office had some concerns about the way EMS is managed and expressed the thought that a CSO could manage it in-house. Kunz pointed to other towns that use municipal EMS services - Lakewood, Toms River, Brick Township, Howell and Wall Township.

Kunz provided the costs for eight options. Those costs included salary and benefits for each of the options.Along with the salary and benefit ranges, projected revenues were indicated.

Option No. 1, for example, would have three trucks from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. and would cost, in salary and benefits, between $661,587 and $917,297. This option would have a projected revenue of $567,663 to $720,831, according to vendor No. 1 and a revenue range of $659,042 to $699,807, according to vendor No. 2.

Emergency Medical Technician salary ranges indicated a full-time worker would receive a minimum of $33,006 and a maximum of $45,745. A typical staff for this option would be 12 full-time and six parttime EMS workers providing a total of 26,280 man hours.

Behm said MONOC has been serving Jackson for about five years and has received several awards. He said his firm is the gold standard for providing emergency ambulance service in New Jersey.

MONOC performs two services in Jackson, Behm said, BLS andALS. It provides ALS not only to Jackson, but to every municipality in Monmouth and Ocean counties.ALS is a paramedic service. Residents pay the balance, after insurance, for the ALS services provided by the paramedics. The ALS service in Jackson will continue to be provided by MONOC regardless of whether the firm is chosen to provide Jackson's BLS coverage.

During his presentation Behm said no patient in Jackson pays any money out of his own pocket for the BLS services.

Eight options were provided on the MONOC bid forms. One example by comparison, Option No. 1, three units on hand between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. would cost $150,000. Other options were also given by MONOC in its bid. Residents would not pay any out-of-pocket expenses. The costs would be collected from insurance and if there were no insurance the costs would be dropped.

Quality Medical Transport, a family run business that has been in existence since 1990, has about 50 ambulances and 145 employees, Murante said. Quality Medical Transport supplies BLS services to Barnegat and Tuckerton. The firm also provides backup BLS for Lakewood,Manchester, Whiting and Lakehurst. The company has five offices in Ocean County.

Quality Medical Transport offered eight options to Jackson.All of the options state there is no cost to the municipality or to residents. The firm collects only from the patient's insurance company and will provide the service at no cost if there is no insurance.

The eight options include Option No. 1, also an example, which is three units between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. at no cost.

Murante said Quality Medical Transport prides itself on its quick response time, as little as three minutes in some cases, and service. He said the firm's state inspection rating was high and said the company has won several awards and has built itself up from two ambulances to a present fleet of 50 ambulances.

A presentation was also given by the Jackson Volunteer First Aid Squad which provides free first aid and ambulance service between 6 p.m. and 5 a.m.

All of the EMS providers said they would work in conjunction with the volunteer first aid squad whenever necessary.

Residents gave the first aid squad members a standing ovation at the end of their presentation.

During the public portion of the meeting resident Kenneth Bressi suggested going with MONOC or Quality Medical Transport for BLS services as opposed to a CSO program that would be under the auspices of the Jackson Police Department.

Resident Paul Mayerowitz said he spoke with first aid squad representatives about some changes that were made regarding the location of the squad's ambulances.

"I just wanted to know if there was any difference in the response times," Mayerowitz said.

First aid squad Lt. Gary Nokes said the response time dropped from an average of nine minutes to an average of six minutes.

Finally, first aid squad cadet Breanna Caruso, 15, said there has been a large increase in the number of cadets joining the squad this past year, but she said a lot of people do not know about it.

"I think it's an important part of our town," Breanna said. "The difference between a volunteer first aid squad and a paid squad is that we live here and this is our community. We genuinely want to help the people to whom we respond. I see my friends and those are their relatives (the squad helps). There's a compassionate connection with the people we are working with. It's the quality of care that they are getting from a family member."

She asked municipal officials to keep the first aid squad coverage times the same so the young members can still take part.

"Volunteering is a big part of getting ready for college," Breanna said. "Please think about that when you consider your options. Please don't discourage young people from volunteering by changing the times."

After the meeting, Ingram said, "I have been asking that the mayor support his program both in theory and in quantifying it. He assured me that he would have a projection and I was disappointed that after four months of requesting this, the presentation did not include any detailed expenditures."