It was a typical summer day for Cathy Diem — or at least it was until her son, who was mowing the lawn, ran into the house a finger short.
After calling an ambulance, she waited anxiously for 12 minutes until one showed up, an interval she sees as far too long.
“You absolutely need to fix this. That’s what we elected you for,” Diem, a former East Brunswick councilwoman, said during the July 27 Township Council meeting.
Diem criticized the council for not doing enough to strengthen the local EMS.
During her speech, which took place during the public comment portion of the meeting, Diem set an alarm to 12 minutes to show the council how long she waited.
Members of the council, who also felt that something had to be done, echoed Diem’s concerns.
“In light of Cathy’s statements, I think we need to look into this. Twelve minutes to get an ambulance to a house is, in my mind, far too long,” Councilman James Wendell said, adding that he once waited 40 minutes for an ambulance to arrive.
“We paid a lot of money for a consultant to do a report. I think we need to review the report, discuss it and make a decision not only because of Cathy’s experience but also in light of Saturday’s very devastating loss,” said Councilwoman Denise Contrino, referring to the July 25 ambulance accident that killed a Spotswood EMS volunteer responding to a call in East Brunswick.
Another reason that council members gave in regards to wait time is the short supply of volunteers available.
“The community of East Brunswick has grown and matured to a place now where an all-volunteer EMS and first aid service might not be sustainable for the town and the population we have today,” said Council President Michael Hughes, mentioning that in the future the council will discuss possible changes to its emergency management services.
“There are a number of services and models around the state that use different things, so we’ll be looking for what works and what doesn’t,” he said.
According to Hughes, if the East Brunswick Rescue Squad is unable to respond to an incident, the request goes to mutual aid, and other area EMS services get the call. Currently, there are multiple EMS operators within the township, including Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and Spotswood EMS.
According to the East Brunswick Rescue Squad website, the group has 85 members and responded to more than 1,800 calls last year.
Hughes said the council would continue the discussion at a future council meeting.