Please sign to SAVE Hillsborough NJ Rescue Squad

[ogfarmer 138]

 if your a Hillsborough resident please join us in the fight to save our Rescue Squad from becoming part of the RWJ monopoly.

 

 

https://www.change.org/p/everyone-that-cares-about-local-emergency-services-save-the-hillsborough-nj-rescue-squad?recruiter=426707894&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=share_page&utm_term=des-lg-no_src-no_msg

 

 

This petition is to save the Hillsborough NJ Emergency Medical Services squad. A Emergency Medical Service that answered over 3500 call for service in 2016. This petition is to stop the Hillsborough Mayor and Borough Council from acting on an RFP from Robert Wood Johnson hospital to provide emergency medical services in our town of almost 40000 residents. Please sign this petition to save our squad.

[kirk2022 43]

Just A thought.   We at times start petitions here in our town that concern our town. As you are part of. The issue with asking anyone to sign the Petition even if they dont live there, Can be A detriment to your cause.

A petition that is making A request of City reps involving that Cities Tax base can only be signed by Citizens of legal age and residents of that town or City.   All petitions are verified and checked for proper signatures of qualified signees.  This is A check and balance.   We have 2 petitions active here in our City right now, And they will be scrutinized deeply by the city for legal signatures. It would really suck to give your City A petition that has enough signatures, That in the end becomes invalid due to having non residents sign it and it falls short of the number to be considered.

I have been and am involved with petitions and this is the quickest way possible to loose A battle before it gets A chance to start.

 

Good luck with the attempt to keep the Rescue Squad the way people want. But follow the rules of A petiton correctly for the good of the petition.

[HBecwithFn7 296]

Even if your not a Hillsborough resident please join us in the fight to save our Rescue Squad from becoming part of the RWJ monopoly.

 

 

https://www.change.org/p/everyone-that-cares-about-local-emergency-services-save-the-hillsborough-nj-rescue-squad?recruiter=426707894&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=share_page&utm_term=des-lg-no_src-no_msg

 

I feel for ya OG, having served on the Randolph Squad for 5 years back in the 80's and early 90's. 

I think the problem a lot of the volunteer squads are facing is a lack of volunteers... especially during the "business weekday." I think some municipalities now hire paid people to operate the apparatus during those days/times. That or they hire the medic units to do it... or they do a whole lot of mutual aid from other towns.   People just don't have the time to volunteer anymore, as many people are having to work full time to support their families.  Very few stay at home, unless they're in charge of raising children... in which case they probably can't leave home to take squad calls.

 

I agree it sucks because it means patients in those areas will have to start paying for ambulance services, full time.  When I was on the squad, we often had people upset with us because they thought their transport to the hospital was going to be free. It still was, actually. But if they also needed the Paramedics and if the medics treated the patient during the transport, the hospital billed them for that, not for the ambulance ride.    Now, the patient will have to pay for both... <sigh>

 

I wish you luck on that bro.  Here in FL, all EMS services are paid as being part of the Fire Dept.

[YankeeSC 1,204]

Hillsborough runs a combination paid/volunteer squad and they already charge all patients for services.  I do not believe this is at all an issue of not enough volunteers or not wanting to charge patients, but simply getting the most value on services for tax dollars.

 

http://www.mycentraljersey.com/story/news/local/somerset-county/2017/02/11/hillsborough-rescue-squad-may-headed-extinction/97640778/

[voyager9 3,434]

From a cost perspective it depends how active the volunteer side of the combination squad is. If the volunteers are able to staff a second or third rig consistently then there is significant savings. If their role is limited then they may not play a big part of the cost-per-run equation.

 

I imagine no matter who's performing the service most of it would be funded through taxes and seeking reimbursement from insurance for out of town patients. Charging everyone "per-run" is inefficient and inconsistent.

 

EMS is consolidating all over the place. If not being taken over by Hospital-based EMS then it's mergers into county-wide departments.

 

 

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[voyager9 3,434]

Hillsborough runs a combination paid/volunteer squad and they already charge all patients for services. I do not believe this is at all an issue of not enough volunteers or not wanting to charge patients, but simply getting the most value on services for tax dollars.

 

No conflict there:

In a footnote, the report also said that Fitch and Associates provides management services for Robert Wood Johnson's University Hospital's Mobile Health Service (EMS), a relationship that was disclosed to township officials before the study was initiated.

 

"RWJUH - Somerset would be pleased to respond if an RFP were issued by the township," the report said.

 

Tho looking at how the squad is funded and I can see why they have issues. Funded based purely on insurance reimbursements with a small kick-in from the township is tough. I wonder how much they're "writing off". Still, there are other options that don't require dismantling the squad and losing its history and community involvement. Becoming a larger entity within the township or becoming a district with the FD could allow them to be tax-based.

 

 

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[ogfarmer 138]

Ok I fixed it, how about only the Hillsborough people on forum sign it and IF you know anyone in our town share it to them because they may not know of it.

[HBecwithFn7 296]

Hillsborough runs a combination paid/volunteer squad and they already charge all patients for services.  I do not believe this is at all an issue of not enough volunteers or not wanting to charge patients, but simply getting the most value on services for tax dollars.

 

http://www.mycentraljersey.com/story/news/local/somerset-county/2017/02/11/hillsborough-rescue-squad-may-headed-extinction/97640778/

 

Things are further along this road than I anticipated, then.  It's come down to a fight for life between the GOB's (rescue squads) and the town bean counters. And it *will* be a fight. You must realize  how personal the squads are for some of the volunteers.   It is their life... their "raison d'Etre."   They won't give it up that easily.... and they'll have the town citizenry on their side, for the most part.  

 

For an "outsource" to be effective, the outsource contractor will have to take up the stations that Hillsborough Squad currently occupy in order to ensure the town will be covered effectively. Hillsborough is a huge township area wise... They won't be able to be centrally dispatched from RWJUH and get to the southern regions of Hillsborough (near Belle Mead/Montgomery) in a similar time frame as the squad does, currently.  Furthermore, they'd also have to be available for "mutual aid" calls in other townships.  That's a huge thing.  If the bean counters haven't accounted for that, then that might be an advantage to the volunteer squads, if they can demonstrate the flaw in the plan.

[YankeeSC 1,204]

RWJUH is already providing similar services throughout Somerset county, as well as across central NJ in other counties.  IIRC Somerset County is already providing the dispatch for them and RWJUH EMS is well versed in how to provide mutual aid relations.

 

For the record I am not trying to defend them, just presenting some facts on the situation.  It will be a tough battle.