Mayor Plans to Phase Out EMTs

[VentMedic]

New Jersey Mayor Plans to Phase Out EMTs

http://www.emsresponder.com/article/...tion=1&id=6657

By ALEXANDER MacINNES
Herald News (Passaic County, NJ)

PATERSON - Despite talk to the contrary, 37 emergency medical technicians manning the city's ambulances will not be laid off but phased out gradually and replaced by firefighters, according to Mayor Jose "Joey" Torres.

Torres said firefighters are being trained as certified EMTs so that they can fill vacancies in the future in an effort to cut down on staffing redundancy and solve a recent problem of EMTs failing to report for work. It is unclear how much money will be saved.

http://www.emsresponder.com/article/...tion=1&id=6657

Emergency medical technicians work out of firehouses and respond to accidents and other medical emergencies. Unlike paramedics, who operate from the two city hospitals Barnert and St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center, EMTs are not authorized to conduct advanced-life support procedures, Brown said.

Starting salaries for both firefighters and technicians are similar, with firefighters receiving $25,064 after six months and EMTs earning almost $22,000, McLaughlin said.

Larger cities in New Jersey often keep the ambulance and fire department operations separate, according to Howard Meyer, legislative director for the New Jersey State First Aid Council. Camden, Atlantic City and Newark do not dedicate firefighters to ambulance duties, Meyer said. The reason for the practice is that firefighters generally resist such a personnel move, he added.

"I have met very few firefighters," Meyer said, "that tell me that they've become firefighters to do EMS."

http://www.emsresponder.com/article/...tion=1&id=6657