A bill that permanently allows volunteer paramedics to start treatment without waiting for a partner

The final tally in the vote for bill A6132 (aka the “Hatzolah Bill”), a New Jersey law that will allow volunteer paramedics to respond to calls and start treatment on a patient without being accompanied by a second paramedic. Until now, existing state law required that two paramedics be present in order to start treatment. Hatzolah units were able to circumvent this requirement by way of a waiver they had received from the Health Department, allowing them to begin treatment upon the arrival of a single paramedic. But that waiver was set to expire in the coming weeks, and Assemblyman Gary Schaer (D-Passaic) worked with lightning speed to pass a bill that permanently allows volunteer paramedics to start treatment without waiting for a partner to arrive. Despite opposition to the bill from various unions, the bill passed both chambers of the New Jersey legislature unanimously, just as the legislative season was about to end.

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 895)