APRIL 19, 2012
IMPORTANT
CONTRACT INFORMATION FOUND HERE
Open Letter to the General Public
Litigation
Filed Ehling vs. Monoc Revised
News Jan 2011
The United States
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued a
stop use and sale of the micro-misting disinfecting
technology sold by Zimek Technologies.
EPA
Region 2 has ordered a New Jersey ambulance company,
Monmouth-Ocean Hospital Service Corporation (MONOC)
to immediately stop the use of the toxic
micro-misting of their ambulances with disinfectants
acquired from Zimek Technologies and the Zimek
Micro-Misting System. This device is used by MONOC
to deliver disinfectants to the interior of
ambulances as micron or submicron sized particles.
EPA’s enforcement action came as a result of a
formal complaint to the EPA by IAFF Local 4610, the
Professional Emergency Services Association of New
Jersey, on behalf of its exposed brothers and
sisters.
The attached “Stop
Use, Sale, or Removal Order” was issued to
Vincent Robbins, president and CEO of MONOC by Dr.
Adrian J. Enache, director of EPA’s Pesticides
Program, Pesticides and Toxic Substances Branch in
Edison, New Jersey. The order is effective
immediately, and gives MONOC 10 days to provide
written documentation to the EPA that it has stopped
the misuses cited and have secured the Zimek
machines and disinfectants.
The IAFF has
contacted EPA and has confirmed with Dr. Enache that
this action applies to ALL uses of the Zimek
Micro-Misting Systems, whether they are used in
ambulances, fire apparatus, fire stations or other
vehicles and facilities. Accordingly, the IAFF is
advising all affiliates to ensure that their
department ceases the use of this technology and
product.
The order states that the
disinfectants that have been used in the MONOC
ambulances are likely to cause harm to humans when
applied using the Zimek system. The order also
states that EPA has reason to believe that
individuals working in MONOC ambulances in which
disinfectants were applied have become ill and
treated for pesticide poisoning.
The Local
4610 President Deborah Ehling has been actively
driving this issue to protect her members. This is a
clear victory for her long hours and determined
efforts. President Ehling states that it is “now
time for a national standard requiring the
evaluation of chemicals used in the workplace with
new technology to ensure safe use by our emergency
medical personnel and fire fighters.”
A
related investigation of MONOC by the Occupational
Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is still
ongoing. This effort was also initiated by a Local
4610 formal complaint on behalf of its members. Don
Marino, president of the Professional Firefighters
Association of New Jersey, has been working with
President Ehling and her local to ensure that OSHA
and the New Jersey Public Employee Occupational
Safety and Health Program (PEOSH) completes these
investigations for the protection of all members.
Disinfectants used for decontaminating
equipment must be EPA-registered hospital
disinfectant chemical germicides that have been
documented as effective against the infectious agent
and MUST be used as they were approved by EPA.
Care also must be taken in the use of any
disinfectants. IAFF members should be aware of the
flammability and reactivity of disinfectants and
should follow manufacturer’s instructions for use
(e.g., contact time and temperature). Disinfectants
should only be used with adequate ventilation and
while wearing appropriate infection control garments
and equipment for cleaning and disinfecting,
including eye protection, gloves, and aprons. It
also is important when disinfecting equipment to
check with the manufacturer of the germicide to
determine compatibility of the medical equipment and
protective clothing with the disinfectant.
The IAFF will continue to monitor and participate in
this effort and will provide updates as they evolve.
The Professional Emergency Medical Services Association
of
New Jersey
(PEMSA-NJ) wants' to know...
HOW MUCH IS YOUR SAFETY WORTH?
·
Help us DEMAND ambulances, equipment and work rules SAFE
FOR YOU and your loved ones.
·
Help us DEMAND that NJ regulations that are meant to
keep our patients safe
be enforced!
Your lives depend on it.
PEMSA-NJ represents over 500 Emergency Medical
Technicians (EMTs), Paramedics and Registered Nurses
(RN's) that work for Monmouth Ocean County Hospital
Services Corporation (MONOC), which is owned and
operated by 15 New Jersey hospitals.
PEMSA-NJ has
been seeking a contract for the past three years with
MONOC which protects the safety of our members and the
patients we serve.
Every day we save lives...that is our calling.
But today we are asking for YOUR HELP to make
MONOC and the HOSPITALS they serve FIX some very serious
SAFETY ISSUES that severely impact
your safety and
the QUALITY OF CARE we can provide.
DIRTY EQUIPMENT
Would you drink from a dirty straw used by someone else?
It took
nine months of complaints
by PEMSA-NJ
to the State Department of Health to get MONOC to
purchase disposable tubing for our portable ventilators.
For years we were required to RE-USE ventilator
tubing without the proper decontamination equipment.
Tubing that is not cleaned and dried correctly
can grow mold spores and pass infections, such as the
deadly antibiotic resistant staph infection MRSA, into
the lungs of the next patient.
PROPER
DRUG STORAGE
Would you
eat a tuna sandwich left in a hot car all day?
Following drug manufacturer's guidelines are critical to
ensure medication safety. Some drugs require
refrigeration, or they may become less effective or even
deactivate. Despite
PEMSA-NJ’s complaints, MONOC has FAILED to provide
cooling for these drugs and will not authorize staff to
throw out drugs that have become overheated.
Staff are
required to use these drugs to treat a life
threatening rapid heart rate, seizures, and to rapidly
paralyze someone who needs an emergency breathing tube.
CRITICAL
PATIENT TRANSPORT
If you were having a heart attack, what would
you prefer?
A special medical unit with trained
personnel and specialized equipment; or a traditional
ambulance?
State regulations require that if a
patient in "critical condition" must be transported from
one hospital to another they should be sent in a
Specialty Care Transport (SCT) ambulance staffed with a
RN and portable ICU (intensive care unit) equipment.
Unfortunately,
MONOC does not have enough SCT ambulances in service to
cover current contracts with area hospitals. This means
that a patient in the midst of a heart attack that needs
to be sent to another hospital for open heart surgery
may actually be transported in a regular ambulance with
no specialized equipment or SCT trained nurses, despite
state requirements.
The consequences to human life are staggering.
PEMSA-NJ has made numerous complaints but the State has
not moved to enforce MONOC to follow the rules.
WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT to achieve a just contract
protecting employee and patient safety.
Join the hundreds of paramedics, EMT's and RN's of
PEMSA-NJ
in our fight to achieve a fair contract and
provide the
SAFEST emergency care possible
for YOU and YOUR FAMILY!
Please write and
call members of the MONOC Board of Trustees and the
15
affiliated local Hospitals served by MONOC ambulances
and tell them the current situation is
NOT ACCEPTABLE.
Call: 732-751-7500 AND 973-322-4000
|
Jersey
Shore
Medical
Center
|
Monmouth
Medical
Center |
Clara
Maass
Medical
Center
|
|
Ocean
Medical
Center
(Brick)
|
SOCH |
Newark
Beth
Israel
Medical
Center
|
|
Riverview
Medical
Center
|
Deborah Heart and Lung |
St. Michaels Medical Center
|
|
Kimball
Medical
Center
|
Princeton
Medical
Center |
Bayshore
Hospital
|
|
Community
Medical
Center
|
St. Barnabas Medical Center |
CentraState
Medical
Center
|
PEMSA-NJ was established in 2007 to address serious
safety issues that affect public health and safety, and
to ensure that frontline health care workers such as
paramedics, emergency medical technicians and registered
nurses can continue to "save lives" under safe working
conditions and or fair wages.
For
more information on how you can help, email
The PemsaNJ Organization
Pemsa-NJ has proposed EMS Legislation changes to our State
Senators. You can view a copy
here and if you would like to help support our
efforts, you can download and print a copy of a sample letter to
be sent to our State Senators by
clicking here.
