New Jersey
N.J. lawmakers could soon approve a bill designed to address the state’s EMT shortage
Paula Weiler, president of the EMS Council of New Jersey, said no matter the squad there are hundreds of hours of training, including mandatory recertification classes that service providers must take every three years. It involves a tremendous amount of work and dedication, she said.
“People are working, they have families, they’re going to school if they’re students, either high school or college, it’s not easy,” she said.
She stressed that becoming a certified EMT is hard, but there is “the satisfaction of bringing a baby into the world, the satisfaction of saving a life by reviving somebody who stopped breathing, or their heart stopped, with CPR.”
“You’re helping your community and it’s something people enjoy doing,” she said.
Noah Staashaught is a full-time member of the Hamilton Township Rescue Squad. The 21-year-old also works part-time for two other EMS companies. He said the measure is badly needed because it will help expand the number of EMS squads across the state.
“There’s been times where we’re understaffed, where we’re only able to put up two ambulances. Here in Hamilton Township we cover over 140 square miles, we’re constantly out on calls, it’s difficult to do,” he said.
He said other towns frequently have to pitch in and that creates a domino effect of squads stretched beyond capacity, which in turn causes burnout. “You can get burnt out on this job very quickly,” he said. “And it becomes an effort just to get up in the morning and come to work.”
He said individuals considering volunteering hear horror stories about personnel shortages.
“It causes people not to do this job anymore, to lose the passion and the love for it, and it all circles back to being short-staffed.”
Weiler said the EMT shortage in New Jersey was made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic, when many EMTs resigned. There is also a shortage of instructors.
How to protect your NJ home from wind: Video
Here’s how to windproof your home to minimize damage, and what to do if a tree falls on your property as a result of the weather
A severe thunderstorm watch looms over North Jersey on the evening of June 12 after days of extreme heat.
Nation Weather Service New York declared a severe thunderstorm watch for numerous North Jersey counties including Bergen, Passaic, Hudson, Essex, Morris and Sussex among other Central Jersey and New York counties. The watch is in effect until 9 p.m., according to the NWS statement.
In an hourly forecast from The Weather Channel for Paramus, there is a 74% chance of thunderstorms at 7 p.m.
High temperatures reached past 90 degrees in many parts of North Jersey on June 11 and June 12 as a heat advisory also remains in effect until 8 p.m., said NWS New York.
“Dangerous heat is expected to continue across much of our region through today, with several record highs likely to be challenged again. High temperatures are forecast to peak into the low to mid 90s across most of the area,” the National Weather Service said Friday.
A Heat Advisory is in effect until 8 p.m. across the state except for Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland and Salem counties.
PHILADELPHIA – Philip McPherson II, a 37-year-old from Riverside, New Jersey, was sentenced Thursday, June 11, to 78 months in prison for his role in a 2022 plane crash in Lehigh County that killed a student pilot, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Sentencing and charges for fatal Lehigh Valley crash
What we know:
United States District Judge John M. Gallagher sentenced McPherson to 78 months in prison, three years of supervised release, a $5,000 fine, a $4,300 special assessment, and $19,530 in restitution. Judge Gallagher also barred McPherson from working in the aviation industry.
McPherson pleaded guilty in October to involuntary manslaughter, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, obstruction of an administrative proceeding, and 40 counts of serving as an airman without a certificate.
The backstory:
Court filings show that on September 28, 2022, McPherson took off from Queen City Airport in Allentown as the pilot-in-command with student pilot K.K. and crashed shortly after, resulting in K.K.’s death.
Prosecutors said McPherson acted with gross negligence, knowing he was not competent to fly as pilot-in-command. He had two prior crashes, nearly a third, and failed a reexamination for his pilot’s certificate in September 2021.
McPherson voluntarily surrendered his pilot’s certificate in October 2021 and let his Temporary Airman Certificate expire in November 2021, acknowledging his inability to meet FAA standards.
He admitted to flying with passengers without a valid FAA pilot’s certificate between October 12, 2021, and September 20, 2022.
Investigators from the U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General, FAA, and Salisbury Township Police Department worked on the case, which was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Robert Schopf and Special Assistant United States Attorney Marie Miller.
What we don’t know:
Authorities have not released further details about the circumstances leading up to the crash.
The Source: Information from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
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