The scenario was horrific: midway through a concert performance by the popular group The Bascom 5 at Stockton University, a section of bleachers collapsed, injuring dozens of attendees. The good news is it wasn’t real. Planners at the New Jersey EMS Task Force dreamed up the tragic scene as the centerpiece of a full-scale exercise with the University, Atlantic County OEM, and AtlantiCare, the region’s healthcare system, to test their ability to respond to such a disaster.

The “collapse” was the focus of a three-day drill for the NJ EMS Task Force (Oct. 25-27), which included 116 team members and more than 34 specialized response vehicles, including Medical Ambulance Buses, stagging trailers, mass casualty response trucks, and special operations vehicles.

“This event is important to the team; it gives us the opportunity to work together and reinforces the need for a team like this,” said Mike Bascom, president of the NJ EMS Task Force.

The NJ EMS Task Force participated in a drill by the New Jersey Transit Police Department’s Office of Emergency Management on Saturday at NJ Transit’s Bay Head yard facility.

The drill was designed to test responses to a simulated transit incident. In addition to the NJ EMS Task Force, the event involved representatives from the New Jersey Transit Office of Emergency Management, NJ TRANSIT Rail Operations, the Bay Head Police Department, the Bay Head Fire Department, the Bay Head Office of Emergency Management, Point Pleasant First Aid Squad, Point Pleasant Borough Fire Department, the Brick Fire Department, the Mantoloking Fire Department, Point Pleasant Borough First Aid Squad, Manasquan First Aid Squad, Ocean County Sheriff’s Department OEM, Federal Railroad Administration, Lacey Township EMS, Jackson Township EMS, Beachwood EMS, Ocean County EMS Coordinators, Ocean County Fire Coordinators & Fire Marshal and the Red Cross.
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For more about the NJ EMS Task Force, visit www.njemstf.org.

We never sit idle.

This week, members of the NJ EMS Task Force took part in a two-date ICS200 class presented by team instructors Chris Kendall and Nick Vasquez at the Shore Area Communications Center in Neptune, NJ.
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Participants in the program updated their knowledge of the Incident Command System and how it comes into play during incident management.

This weekend, members of the NJ EMS Task Force Training Module presented the NAEMT’s Mental Health Resilience Officer Class for the team at Mount Laurel Township EMS.

The class, delivered by Bil Rosen, Andy Caruso and Constantine Sypsomos was part of Mount Laurel’s annual work to honor the life and legacy of paramedic student Katie Broeker, who took her own life several years ago.
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Mount Laurel EMS President Mark Hass opened the session, reflecting on Broeker’s impact on the organization. Mount Laurel EMS’ lead EMT instructor Joe Zuber played a pivotal role in bringing the NJ EMS Task Force training team for the class, which was attended by 31 members.

The New Jersey EMS Task Force participated in today’s FEMA Region 2/New Jersey State Police OEM CERT workshop at the Somerset County emergency services training center in Hillsboro.

Fifteen team members participated in the event, which was attended by more than 120 CERT team members across the state. During the day-long workshop, attendees took part in hands-on exercises, workshops, and a functional exercise.

The scenario for the drill was a simulated explosion in multiple buildings. Teams of four and five CERT members were dispatched to search for and extract victims to a triage area. There, they were met by NJ EMS Task Force volunteers, who walked them through the triage, treatment, and transport process. The patients were loaded onto a medical ambulance bus.

By participating in the workshop, the NJ EMS Task Force members were able to share insight into what the organization can provide to local communities during a mass casualty incident with the CERT members and participating agencies.
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Units participating today from NJEMSTF agencies included:
Mercer County staging trailer hosted by Capital Health
Morris County mass casualty response unit hosted by Morris County OEM
Middlesex County medical ambulance bus hosted by Rutgers ES
Support van two hosted by West New York EMS
Special operations unit central hosted by Neptune EMS
Support unit vehicle hosted by South Branch Emergency Services.