WARREN COUNTY, NJ – Warren County proclaimed Emergency Medical Services Week recently, as the county commissioners offered their thanks and praise to the men and women of the EMS community who provide life-saving care to those in need 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
EMS squads are “basically a hospital on wheels,” Commissioner Director Lori Ciesla said as the commissioners presented the proclamation to representatives of the Warren County EMS Officers Association.
“It can make a very big difference” in how a patient fares in an emergency,” Ciesla siad.
Commissioner Jason J. Sarnoski said the board has recognizes firefighters, 9-1-1 telecommunicators and other first responders in the past month, and now it is time to thank the paid and especially the volunteer members of the EMS squads in the county.
There are approximately 350 emergency medical services personnel in Warren County, with 12 active EMS squads staffed by a mix of volunteer crews, paid crews, and combination crews, as well as two hospital-supported ambulances and three hospital-based Mobile Intensive Care Units (MICU) with paramedics.
Meanwhile, Air Medical MICU services are provided by two primary helicopter providers in Warren County, which provide rapid transport to regional trauma and specialty care hospitals within minutes when necessary.
Commissioner James R. Kern III said the recognition for the EMS community was long overdue, noting this was the first time the commissioners were marking Emergency Medical Services Week. Kern noted that volunteers have to go through the same rigorous training as the paid professionals. All EMTs must successfully pass a minimum of a 190-hour NJ Department of Heath basic training course, and a state final aptitude/knowledge skills test.
