McCarthy’s unwavering commitment to EMS and her impact reaches throughout the state – and the country. In addition to teaching classes at the conference, McCarthy oversees and manages the team that develops, produces, and stages the annual SIMS competition. Under her leadership, she has integrated NJEMSTF’s Mental Health Resilience Officers program to deepen the impact of the debriefing process and support competitors throughout it. This initiative has helped to normalize mental health services within the EMS community.

Our planners and members of the NJEMSTF also had a big week at the conference, providing classes on leadership and planning for disaster topics. The courses included expertise instruction on coordinating EMS during wildland fires, training new EMS providers in resilience strategies, uses and lessons learned from our Medical Ambulance Bus fleet deployments, and a day-long staging area manager program.

As a strong partner of the NJ Department of Health, the NJEMSTF stands committed to serving and protecting the residents and visitors of our state.

For more information about the NJEMSTF message us here or visit www.njemstf.org.

October was a busy month with training and exercises for the New Jersey EMS Task Force (NJEMSTF), each one designed to increase the organization’s readiness, collaboration, and coordination with agencies across the state.
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On Oct. 8, 90 highly trained members of the NJEMSTF participated in a full-scale exercise at Liberty State Park alongside our partners in law enforcement and EMS from New Jersey and New York. The exercise was a collaborative, multi-agency effort that spanned nine months to bring to fruition and was designed to test the region’s emergency preparedness ahead of next summer’s FIFA World Cup.

A day later, the NJEMSTF incident advance team participated in an Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) exercise to test the response to fictional explosions and Sarin Gas exposures at a mall in Passaic County and a Union County train station along the Morris/Essex line.

And on Oct. 14 and 15, members of the NJEMSTF, alongside McCabe Ambulance, University Hospital EMS Special Operations Group and Rescue Division, participated in the UASI Metro Urban Search and Rescue (MUSAR) full-scale exercise in Bayonne, NJ.
The simulated scenario involved a terror attack at a commuter rail station, resulting in mass casualties and structural collapse. NJEMSTF personnel integrated directly with MUSAR rescue teams, delivering on-site triage and medical care to simulated victims trapped throughout the incident area.

The multi-layered drills and training were in addition to the organization’s planning for the potential of a Nor’easter and the dispatch of NJEMSTF assets to events throughout the state, including football games at MetLife Stadium, a woodland rescue in Cedar Grove, and fires in Middletown, Newark, and Woodbridge.
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These exercises continue to test our systems, engage our members, and assure that we are ready for potential deployments, should they occur.

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.