Advanced Life Support
Advanced Life Support (ALS)
The paramedics of Jersey City Medical Center EMS provide 9-1-1 Advanced Life Support services to greater Hudson County 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. As the only licensed ALS service located in Hudson County, we staff up to six ALS units that supplement and support local Basic Life Support Units. Where permitted by state guidelines, our ALS units are capable of performing all of the functions of a BLS unit, including patient transport.
All of our units are staffed by two certified Mobile Intensive Care Paramedics. Our paramedics are trained in numerous advanced skills once reserved for in hospital care. Our paramedics provide advanced airway management, 3 and 12-lead cardiac monitoring and electrical therapy, EtCO2 monitoring, peripheral and pre-existing central intravenous and intraosseous access, chest decompression, blood glucose monitoring, nerve agent antidote administration, and medication administration for a variety of medical ailments. Our paramedics utilize standing orders and board certified emergency physicians for medical control and consultation.
All of our paramedics must maintain certifications in Advanced Cardiac Life Support, Pediatric Advanced Life Support, Pre-hospital or International Trauma Life Support and CPR. In addition, they are all trained in Incident Command and Incident Management Systems, local, state, and federal response plans, Weapons of Mass Destruction, Hazardous Materials Response, Mass Casualty Triage and Treatment, as well as other courses offered through our Special Operations Division to prepare for major incident response.
Our ALS response area covers a vast number of major local and national landmarks and locations of significance including the Holland and Lincoln Tunnel complexes, the New Jersey Turnpike, the Newport Highrises and Newport Mall, The PATH Subway system, the Jersey City Financial District, Ellis Island and Liberty State Park, the NY Waterway Ferry Terminals, Secaucus Transfer Rail Station, the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail, the Bayonne Cruise Terminal, the International Matex Tank Terminal, and the Bayonne Bridge.
Our ALS units are pre-deployed throughout Hudson County to allow us to minimize response time and maximize efficiency. ALS Units are dispatched by our Hudson County Communication Emergency Network based on nationally recognized dispatch guidelines to ensure critical patients receive the appropriate level of care. When a caller describes a situation requiring advanced life support services, HUDCEN dispatches paramedics to the location in addition to the nearest available Basic Life Support unit.