This past weekend 8 Independence First Aid Squad members attended the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians Tactical Emergency Casualty Care course. The Warren County Department of Public Safety and the Independence First Aid Squad sponsored this joint training course. Instructors from Saint Clare's Health made the trip to the Great Meadows Middle School to instruct the class. In addition to our eight members that attended the course, 15 members of the Warren County Rescue Taskforce and other members of local Police, Fire, and EMS agencies participated in the class.
The Tactical Emergency Casualty Care (TECC) course teaches EMS practitioners and other prehospital providers how to respond to and care for patients in a civilian tactical environment. The course presents the three phases of tactical care and integrates parallel EMS nomenclature: Hot Zone/Direct Threat Care that is rendered while under attack or in adverse conditions. Warm Zone/Indirect Threat Care that is rendered while the threat has been suppressed but may resurface at any point. Cold Zone/Evacuation Care that is rendered while the casualty is being evacuated from the incident site. The 16-hour classroom course includes all new patient simulations and covers the following topics: Hemorrhage control, including immediate action drills for tourniquet application throughout the course; Complete coverage of the MARCH assessment; Surgical airway control and needle decompression; Strategies for treating wounded responders in threatening environments; Caring for pediatric patients; Techniques for dragging and carrying victims to safety; and A final, mass-casualty/active shooter event simulation. National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians TECC course is endorsed by the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma, is consistent with the current guidelines established by the Committee on TECC (Co-TECC), and meets all of the updated National Tactical Emergency Medical Support Competency Domains. The final simulation tested the students' knowledge they learned over the two-day course in a simulated active shooter scenario with over 35 "victims." We want to give a massive shout-out to Warren County Technical School for allowing students to attend our final scenario as role players. We want to thank all the agencies that assisted in making the final exercise as realistic as possible. The following agencies participated in the final exercise. Law Enforcement: Independence Twp. Police Mansfield Township Police Department Washington Township Police Department New Jersey State Police Phillipsburg Police Department, NJ EMS: Phillipsburg Emergency Squad Lebanon Township Fire Department Independence First Aid Squad Public Safety: Warren County Department of Public Safety FIELDCOM Once again, we would like to thank the Great Meadows Regional School District Board of Education for allowing us to use the middle school and all of the instructors from Saint Clare's Health for putting the class on for us. If you are interested in taking a TECC course or your agency is interested in hosting a TECC course, you can contact Clinical Supervisor Ryan Stickle at ryanstickle@primehealthcare.com for further information. Ryan Newkirk and Chris Hinkle took all photos.
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In 2022, Independence First Aid Squad (IFAS), had the busiest year in the history of the organization with a total 1,519 calls for service. This represents a 62.6% increase over the 934 requests for service that occured in 2021 and a 165.1% increase from the 573 calls for service in 2020. Of the 1,519 calls for service, IFAS had 1,029 patient contacts and 794 of the calls resulted in transport to the hospital.
Average Dispatch to Responding: 4.31 minutes Average Dispatch to On Scene (All calls): 14.12 minutes Average Dispatch to On Scene (Primary area only): 12.06 minutes Responses by Municipality: Independence Township: 402 requests Liberty Township: 180 requests Mansfield Township: 117 requests Allamuchy Township: 32 requests Belvidere Town: 23 requests Blairstown Township: 40 requests Frelinghuysen Township: 125 requests Hackettstown: 392 requests Hardwick Township: 10 requests Harmony Township: 11 requests Hope Township: 35 requests Knowlton Township: 32 requests Lopatcong Township: 1 request Oxford Township: 24 requests Phillipsburg Town: 2 requests Washington Borough: 5 requests Washington Township: 4 requests White Township: 81 requests Out of County: 3 requests In 2022 IFAS missed 15 calls in our primary area. The following EMS Agencies handled the 15 calls: Allamuchy-Green First Aid Squad: 1 Hackettstown First Aid and Rescue Squad: 8 Mansfield Emergency Medical Services: 3 Oxford Emergency Squad: 3 The Independence First Aid Squad (IFAS) had a very successful first day at our second station out of Tri-County Volunteer Fire Company. IFAS handled 9 calls for service with the second station handling 3 calls. IFAS would like to thank Lieutenant Lundy and EMT Potter for being our first crew to be stationed in the Township of Mansfield. We look foward to a successful year serving our communities!
Pictured from left to right: Chief Vazquez, Lieutenant Lundy, EMT Potter, and Deputy Chief Nicholls December 20, 2022
CONTACT INFORMATION: Chief Nicholas Vazquez Chief@73rescue.org 908-736-6025 Release Date: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE MANSFIELD TOWNSHIP EMS COVERAGE The Independence First Aid Squad (IFAS) is proud to announce the expansion of our primary EMS coverage to the Township of Mansfield, effective midnight on January 1, 2023. IFAS was named the primary EMS agency for the Township of Mansfield through township ordinance on December 14, 2022, after the Township approached IFAS to establish a plan to increase adequate EMS staffing for the Township. Year to date, for 2022, IFAS has been dispatched to 114 calls for service in the Township of Mansfield with an average dispatch to on-scene time of 15 minutes. Additionally, most of the calls for service IFAS has handled in the Township of Mansfield have been handled as a 3 rd due or staffed agency response. This means IFAS was not requested to respond to the incident for more than 12 minutes after the initial primary EMS agency was dispatched, drastically delaying patient care. IFAS will be providing 24/7 EMS coverage to the Township of Mansfield. In addition, IFAS will add an additional staffed BLS Ambulance in the Township of Mansfield during the peak call volume to reduce response times and ensure adequate staffing for all of the townships we service. Our staffed Ambulance that will be placed in the Township of Mansfield is estimated to handle 65-70% of the call volume in the Township of Mansfield. Year to date, for 2022, IFAS has been dispatched to 1,469 calls for service. While 2022 has been our busiest year, we have provided a 99% response rate to our primary area. Year to date, we have missed 15 calls for service in our primary response area. Adding Mansfield Township to our coverage area will not change the services IFAS currently provides to Independence and Liberty Townships. |
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