NJDOH ambulance response time data

In response to the hype surrounding the state Department of Health (DOH) Office of Emergency Medical Services’ online postings of ambulance response times, New Jersey residents should know the data fails to include many instances when first responders, EMTs or advanced medical care providers arrive on scene before the ambulance.

“Response time is defined as agency dispatch to agency unit arrival on location,” according to the DOH Web site. Those numbers, however, don’t accurately reflect when help actually arrives in many cases. Most EMS volunteers carry pagers even when they are off duty, and respond to calls on their own, arriving within minutes and rendering aid immediately, before the ambulance arrives.

By discounting these “true” response times, the data not only minimizes efforts of EMS responders already on scene, it provides a general misconception of laudable EMS work. The ambulance is a means of transport; treatment started before ambulance arrival is more important to the quality of patient care.

Due to computer system incompatibilities between state, county and local agencies, such data must be entered manually, when available and when possible. Because the systems can’t communicate, there’s no way to merge “true” response-time data with what ultimately gets reported.

— Joseph G. Walsh, Jr., Neptune, NJ, President of EMS

Council of New Jersey