Mobile Intensive Care Units

Overview

Mobile Intensive Care Units are “emergency rooms on wheels,” which are authorized by the Commissioner of the State of New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services (http://www.state.nj.us/health).  MICU programs consist of physicians and specially trained advanced life support personnel (paramedics and mobile intensive care nurses). 

The Valley Hospital Mobile Intensive Care Unit (MICU) has provided services  24 hours a day seven days a week to our community since 1983.  Our staff of highly skilled paramedics brings a unique blend of technology, professional expertise, human care and concern directly to the scene of accidents and medical emergencies.  The Valley Hospital’s MICU is an ever growing unit being one of the first in the State of New Jersey to implement progressive paramedic procedures such as Rapid Sequence Intubation, including paralytics (RSI) and Continuous Positive Airway Pressure. (CPAP).  Our philosophy is to provide our community with the best healthcare possible.

The Valley Hospital MICU consists of 3 advanced life support units, truck 401, truck 402 and truck 403.  Trucks 401 and 402 provide 24-hour coverage seven days a week and are stationed in Ridgewood and Mahwah respectively.  Truck 403 is an 8-hour truck Monday through Friday and is stationed in Hawthorne. 

When an emergency telephone call is placed to 911, the trained dispatcher (through MICCOM  (http://www.nnjmicu.org/miccom/index.htm ) gathers relevant information and determines what resources are needed. These resources may include Basic Life Support (BLS) ambulances staffed by your town’s local ambulance corps and Advanced Life Support (ALS) personnel provided by the nearest hospital-based MICU.

The volunteer ambulance corps members are Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) trained in basic life support. Skills performed by EMTs include first aid, administration of emergency oxygen, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and early defibrillation with semiautomatic defibrillators (SAED).

The Valley Hospital Paramedics (arrive in a non-transport vehicle) continue care upon arrival at the scene of the emergency. The paramedic team carefully and rapidly assesses the patient. ALS interventions may consist of advanced airway management, IV lines, medications, defibrillation or cardioversion, advanced cardiac life support, and pediatric life support.  If ALS interventions are medically necessary, then treatment is initiated immediately or en route.  Patient under paramedic care are then transported to The Valley Hospital or other local hospital for continued treatment. If ALS interventions are not necessary, patients are release to the local ambulance EMTs for transport and The Valley Hospital paramedics immediately become available for other emergencies.

Paramedics

Paramedics in New Jersey are certified by the State Department of Health (http://www.state.nj.us/health/ems/index.html). Education is typically completed at select community colleges (such as Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital http://www.rwjuh.edu/ or University Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey http://www.umdnj.edu/homeweb/index.htm  and includes a minimum of 550 hours of didactic classroom time. After didactic there are approximately 700 hours of clinical training in the hospital. Departmental rotations in the hospitals include: Emergency Department, Critical and Intensive Care Units, and Operating Room to name a few. At least 400 of the hours are spent in the field with the MICU. Recertification for paramedics is required every two years, with a minimum of 48 hours of continuing education.

Paramedics in New Jersey also maintain current certifications from the American Heart Association (www.americanheart.org)  in Advanced Cardiac Life Support/Pediatric Advanced Life Support and Basic Life Support for Healthcare Providers. Other programs recommended for paramedics include Pre-Hospital Trauma Life Support (www.phtls.org).

In New Jersey paramedics operate under the license of physician medical directors; typically the physicians are those in Emergency Departments of the MICU hospitals. Among the many skills paramedics may perform are the following: interpretation of electrocardiographic rhythm strips, defibrillation and cardioversion, CPR, initiation and maintenance of intravenous and pediatric intraosseous lines, accessing central venous lines, endotracheal intubation, nasogastric insertion, administration of approximately 50 emergency medications (IV, IO, ET, SL, SQ, PO, IM, TD, PR) and chest needle decompression.

Community

Approximately 10,000 calls per year are handled by The Valley Hospital's MICU. Our primary service area includes the following communities:

In addition, we also provide service to:

EMS Training Center

The MICU Department's "EMS Training Center" offers Continuing Medical Education for all pre-hospital professionals.  We provide a wide array of Nationally-recognized courses including PHTLS, PEPP, and National Registry (www.nremt.org)  refresher programs.  We will also custom-make lectures and provide expert speakers on any topic in EMS today.  For more information regarding these or other classes, please contact the Clinical Shift Coordinator for Education at (201) 447-8430.

Paramedics Take First Place!

Recently, a team of paramedics from The Valley Hospital MICU took first place in Advanced Life Support at the 56th annual International Rescue and Emergency Care Association (IRECA) Competition held in Bethlehem, Pa. “We were quite proud,” said Doug Williamson, a 15 year member of the team.  “It confirms something we’ve known all along.  We’re very professional and we’re serious about our job.”  The Valley Hospital MICU is no stranger to competition or to winning; the team took first place at previous competitions in 1989, 1999 and 2000. 

Competition at the IRECA (www.ireca.org)  is challenging. Sixteen (16) teams from all over the country and Canada compete in the IRECA competition.  The competition consists of challenging written examinations and multiple practical scenarios consisting of medical and traumatic injuries.

The team, composed of Douglas Williamson (director), Robert Meichsner (coordinator), Lafe Bush (paramedic) and Frank Gildea, Jr. (paramedic), was cosponsored by the hospital and The Valley Hospital’s Emergency Department physicians.

Only the best heavy rescue and emergency medical response teams in the country enter this annual competition.  The event is one of the best methods for maintaining emergency response skills and offers one of the few opportunities to compare the quality of one team’s care against other teams.

The Valley Hospital Mobile Intensive Care Unit enjoys competing with other paramedic teams and is constantly preparing for the next competition.  But the paramedics of this special unit always keep the important issue first at hand, the best care and best treatment of each individual they encounter.  The Valley Hospital paramedics provide compassionate, personalized caring services in response to each and every patient’s physical, emotional and spiritual needs, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.

Mailing address:
Mobile Intensive Care Unit
The Valley Hospital
223 North Van Dien Avenue
Ridgewood, NJ 07450-2736

MICU Administration:
Director:  Doug Williamson BC, RN, CEN, CCRN, MICP
Telephone: 201-447-8000 ext. 8502

Clinical Shift Coordinator., Education: 
Robert Meichsner MICP, MA, CEN, CCRN
Telephone: 201-447-8000 ext. 8430

Clinical Shift Coordinator, Operations: 
Robert Bellinger MICP
Telephone: 201-447-8000 ext. 8729

Clinical Shift Coordinator, Administration:
Terry Reiss MICP
Telephone: 201-447-8000 ext. 8447

Learn More About EMS!

If you are interested in more information about EMS and EMS education, see http://www.bergenemt.org/ or http://www.bergen.org/EMS/

Other Interesting Links:
The Medical Society of New Jersey, http://www.msnj.org/
New Jersey State First Aid Council, http://www.njsfac.org/
Northern New Jersey Mobile Intensive Care Consortium, http://www.nnjmicu.org/