Norwood EMS Operations

Duty Crews
Mutual Aid
Line Officer Responsibilities
Communications
Mass Casualty Incident Procedures

Duty Crews

Norwood EMS runs two duty crews a day. The day shift runs from 6am to 7pm. and the night shift runs from 7pm to 6am. We recently shortened the night shift by one hour in the morning because of input from members that they were often unable to ride past 6am because of restrictions in their work schedules.

As an active member of Norwood EMS it is required that one ride at least one shift a week. Although it is strongly urged that members select a regular duty crew, it is possible to select a rotating duty crew as long as the requirement of at least one shift per week is met.

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Mutual AID

Norwood EMS is one of 5 towns that operate under the Inter-Borough Mutual Aid System. This system combines all of the emergency services of Norwood, Northvale, Closter, Harrington Park, and Demarest so that they can rely on each other for assistance.

Why Mutual Aid?

Because of decreasing number of volunteers in the northern Bergen County area, it is some times not possible for a town to get a large enough crew to roll an ambulance. Usually this occurs during the day time when most volunteers are either at work or in school. Because of this, the mutual aid system was developed. The mutual aid system ensures that one town will always have a crew ready to respond to anywhere within the Inter-Borough in the event that one town will be unable to get a crew itself.

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Line Officer Responsibilities

Unlike many of the other volunteer EMS agencies in the northern NJ are, Norwood EMS operates under the direction of a Chief, not a Captain. The chief's role is to implement and maintain the operating procedures for the corps. The chief must also oversee all special events the corps is at as well as maintain overall control over vehicles, personnel, and the ordering of supplies. Along with these responsibilities, the chief must attend meetings held within the Borough of Norwood as well as with other towns that operate under the Inter-Borough Mutual Aid system.

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Communications

All of the ambulance corps, and fire departments operating within the Inter-Borough communicate through the 911 dispatch center in Closter. All ambulance, and fire emergencies are dispatched to home alarm units on the 154.1600Mhz. EMS communications are carried out on the EMS frequency, 155.265Mhz.

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MCI Procedures

In the event of a large incident, Norwood EMS runs under the Incident Command Procedures as described in the NJ ICS course.

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