Sponsored by:
Senator ANTHONY M. BUCCO
District 25 (Morris and Somerset)
Senator ANTHONY R. BUCCO
District 25 (Morris and Somerset)
SYNOPSIS
Establishes mutual aid assistance request protocols for 9-1-1 ambulance dispatchers.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning emergency response and supplementing Title 26 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. It shall be a standard operating procedure for 9-1-1 dispatchers to call for mutual aid assistance whenever a basic life support ambulance provider fails to respond to an emergency response call within 10 minutes; provided, however, nothing in the section shall be construed to preclude the adoption of a standard operating procedure that mandates a dispatcher to issue a call for mutual aid assistance within a time frame of less than 10 minutes when a basic life support ambulance provider fails to respond to an emergency response call.
b. Upon any failure to respond, the dispatcher shall issue a mutual aid assistance call to a different basic life support ambulance provider, but also shall re-alert the service provider initially called. If the service provider initially called affirms that it is en route or is otherwise actively responding to the emergency response call, the dispatcher may cancel the request for mutual aid assistance.
c. A provider who fails to respond to an emergency response call and, as a consequence, mutual aid assistance is required to service the emergency, shall not be called by a 9-1-1 dispatcher to respond to an emergency unless:
(1) the provider, through prior notice, affirms that it has sufficient staffing available to respond to any request for emergency assistance within 10 minutes; or
(2) a mutual aid assistance provider is called concurrently with the provider who failed to respond to the previous call. The mutual aid assistance provider shall respond to the call, unless directed by the 9-1-1 dispatcher to do otherwise.
2. The Department of Health shall develop guidelines to effectuate the purposes of this act.
3. This act shall take effect on the first day of the third month following enactment.
STATEMENT
This bill would establish a standard operating procedure for 9-1-1 dispatchers that requires them to call for mutual aid assistance if the basic life support ambulance service provider initially called to an emergency fails to respond within 10 minutes.
Under the provisions of the bill, whenever a service provider fails to respond to an emergency call within 10 minutes, the dispatcher is to issue a mutual aid assistance call to a different basic life support ambulance provider. Concurrently, the dispatcher also is to re-alert the service provider initially called. If the service provider initially called affirms that it is en route or is otherwise actively responding to the emergency response call, the dispatcher may cancel the request for mutual aid assistance.
The bill further provides that a 9-1-1 dispatcher is not to call a service provider who failed to respond to an earlier call and had to be replaced by a mutual aid provider until (1) the provider gives notice and affirms that it has sufficient staffing available to respond to any request for emergency assistance within 10 minutes; or (2) a mutual aid assistance provider is called concurrently with the provider that failed to respond to the previous call. The mutual aid assistance provider is to respond to the call, unless directed by the 9-1-1 dispatcher to do otherwise.