Mind-set must change if EMS system is to survive
The results of the recently released New Jersey EMS services study mirror those of three previous studies in past decades. The 78-year-old New Jersey State First Aid Council continues reviewing the lengthy document and will have more extensive comments as discussions progress. Two points merit immediate attention, however:

• New Jersey's EMS system will not collapse tomorrow, as some might insist. Admittedly, it needs first aid of its own, but we wouldn't power up the defibrillator just yet

• Contrary to comments in the document, the NJSFAC obliged fully with reasonable requests for data. We did, however, decline to provide data that: 1) was asked of our organization alone, and not requested of any other EMS providers in the state, and 2) would not affect the report. Singling out our EMS volunteers for an unreasonable request and then characterizing us as uncooperative is harmful and wrong.

The study is correct that the EMS providers - volunteer and paid - are treated as secondclass citizens, always last in the funding and consideration lines behind fire and police, even though the services we provide are just as vital. This skewed mind-set must change if New Jersey's EMS system is to survive.

Sue Van Orden

President New Jersey State First Aid

Council Lincoln Park