ALS Response Times Down in Collingswood; Virtua Disputes Report

A newly released report from the IXL Corporation out of Princeton on paramedic services in Camden County shows a significant lapse in response time in about 50 percent of calls from a national standard of eight minutes.

Response times for the Advanced Life Support (ALS) services in every town in the county were analyzed based on a report and audit conducted by the Camden County Department of Public Safety, county officials said on Thursday.

The study incorporates four years worth of data, and shows a significant lapse in response time from the national benchmark that has been declared a national standard by the National Fire Protection Association, the Journal of Emergency Medical Services, EMS World and the International Association of Firefighters.

However, a Virtua representative told the Courier Post the study is misleading, and the county is playing politics to try and wrest control of ALS services from the hospital.

ALS services are provided regionally by designated health care systems that are aligned with specific counties. Virtua Health System provides paramedics for Camden and Burlington counties.

Scott Kasper, Virtua’s assistant vice president for emergency medicine, told the newspaper the eight-minute standard is outdated, as it was set in the 1970’s, before emergency responders began bringing defibrillators with them on emergency calls.

He said a true analysis would examine emergency responders, and that Virtua meets New Jersey’s 10-minute standard, according to the Courier Post.

According to county officials:

In other jurisdictions, such as King County in Washington State, an eight minute response time, on 90 percent of calls has been identified as a national model.

In other counties and cities throughout the nation ALS response times are well below the eight minute mark, like Palm Beach County, Florida, has a median ALS response time of 6:37 per call, Pinellas County, Florida, has a median 7:17response time per call. Indianapolis, Indiana has an ALS median response time of 4:30, and Boston has a median response time of 7:30.

Through July 7 of this year, Camden County’s ALS response rate is at 50.87 percent, based on the eight-minute standard, according to the report. 

Collingswood’s response rate was similar at 49.69 percent (79 out of 159). Last year’s percentage was 40.06 (143 of 357). In 2013, it was 29.94 percent (103 out of 344), and in 2012, it was 36.92 (151 out of 409).

Local data was originally derived from the Camden County Communications Center, which is a regional public safety answering point, providing Emergency Medical Service call taking and dispatch services for all 37 Camden County municipalities, including ALS and Basic Life Services (BLS) services. Camden County Public Safety Director Rob Blaker, initiated the analysis of the data based on prior requests in regard to Camden City.

The county consulted IXP for verification.