Please take a moment to ask your Assembly representatives not to support A2463 when it comes up for a vote in the Assembly on Monday, January 28th.
In January 2012, Governor Christie conditionally vetoed A2095 / S818. In his veto language, he asked for a review by the Commissioner of Health on, among other things, the operational impacts of this bill on EMS volunteers and volunteer EMS agencies as well as the cost that would be incurred by municipalities and the State.
Ignored by the majority in the Senate and Assembly, legislation was reintroduced as A2463 / S1650. Supporters of these bills do not want this review. Instead, they continue to make inaccurate and misleading statements with regards to what the bills will do as well as how other states’ EMS systems operate. They propose licensing of all BLS agencies and ambulances by the DOH so that the most up to date medical protocols and standards are available to all our citizens. This is completely inaccurate and misleading information. The DOH has complete control over what protocols and standards EMTs can use and has since the EMT program was introduced over 35 years ago.
Few if any changes have been made to these bills which address the concerns raised by EMS volunteers and others. We believe the intent of this legislation is to make it more difficult for volunteer EMS agencies to operate thus opening new areas for paid services. The major supporters include large private ambulance companies as well as hospitals who have started their own ambulance service in the last several years or are planning on doing so. We believe that their support is driven by business considerations and not, as advertised, improved patient care.
Please take a moment to ask your Assembly representatives not to support A2463 when it comes up for a vote in the Assembly on Monday, January 28th.
You can do this by sending an e-mail NOW! Please go to www.capwiz.com/njsfac/home. It’s fast and simple to do and you don’t even have to know who your Assembly representatives are. Not sure how it works? There's a tutorial on the Legislative page at www.njsfac.org.
Please share this site with your family, friends and neighbors and ask them to e-mail their Assembly representatives. PLEASE DO IT NOW!
