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Keansburg adopts ordinance charging patient-care facilities $750 for nonemergency EMS dispatches
Summary
The Borough Council adopted Ordinance #1735 requiring patient-care facilities to maintain private ambulance availability and imposing a $750 fee for nonemergency dispatches of volunteer EMS when volunteer squads determine an advanced response was not required; the measure also requires proof of private-arrangement contracts and authorizes fines for noncompliance.
The Borough of Keansburg on Nov. 13 adopted Ordinance #1735, creating Section 2-21C of the borough code to regulate use of volunteer emergency medical services by patient-care facilities and to impose a $750 fee when a volunteer first-aid squad is dispatched for nonemergency care.
Under the ordinance, state-licensed nursing homes, assisted-living facilities and similar patient-care providers must have contracts with private ambulance services available 24/7 or, if they operate their own ambulances, must file identifying vehicle and staffing information with the Borough Clerk. Facilities must file proof of private ambulance availability within 60 days after final passage and annually by Sept. 1. The ordinance authorizes fines up to $1,000 for facility or officer noncompliance.
The ordinance says that if a volunteer first-aid squad determines “in its sole discretion” that a dispatch did not require advanced life support or a paramedic unit, the volunteer squad shall certify that finding and the private care facility will be charged a $750 Volunteer EMS dispatch fee payable to the Borough of Keansburg. The borough may allocate fee revenue to volunteer first-aid squads consistent with existing code.
Council opened a public hearing on the ordinance and recorded that no members of the public spoke. The adoption passed on a roll-call vote of the Mayor and Council.
The ordinance cites N.J.S.A. 40:49-2 for publication by summary and incorporates enforcement, severability and effective-date provisions; it requires facilities to maintain contracts with at least two private ambulance providers unless they operate their own licensed ambulances and file vehicle documentation with the clerk.
The measure aims to discourage use of volunteer squads for nonemergency transports so volunteers remain available for true emergencies. The council scheduled enforcement and filing requirements in the ordinance text; the clerk recorded the adoption vote in the meeting minutes.
