Jersey City Medical Center–Barnabas Health has come up with a creative solution to the dilemma of getting its emergency medical people through busy parts of the city that are perennially clogged with traffic and double-parked cars: giving them bicycles.
Since the spring, EMTs and paramedics have been using bicycles that are fully stocked with a radio and emergency medical supplies. Used originally at major events and parades, the EMS members on bikes are strategically placed throughout the city – primarily in the downtown area and near the waterfront – based on the same predictive model its ambulances use to get quickly to emergencies.
Eight members of the hospital’s EMS patrol in pairs from Thursday – Sunday. They often work as first responders to many scenes – treating trauma and heart attack victims – until the ambulances arrive.
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