HackensackUMC believes that great pre-hospital critical care for our communities begins with high quality education. To provide the highest quality of care to our patients we ensure that every Mobile ICU Paramedic has attended college and receives rigorous and ongoing classroom and clinical education. In addition, each member of our Mobile ICU Paramedic team is certified by the New State Department of Health and Senior Services’ Office of Emergency Medical Services to meet these exacting standards. We believe our commitment to education is reflected in the professional and compassionate care our team provides.

HackensackUMC started the first Paramedic Program in the Bergen County area nearly 40 years ago. The program was initially called the "Heart Rescue Team" and was a joint effort with the City of Hackensack and its Fire Department as well as its Volunteer Ambulance Corps.

At that time, a physician and nurse from the Emergency Room responded to cardiac emergencies in the City of Hackensack. In the late 1970's, the medical center trained the first paramedics in the area.

One of the first groups to receive this training were the firefighters from Hackensack, who provided around the clock Advanced Life Support (ALS) coverage for the city.

In 1981, HackensackUMC took full control of the paramedic service so that this valuable program could then be expanded to the surrounding communities.

HackensackUMC’s Mobile ICU operates five ALS units and one Specialty Care Transport Unit (SCTU), which doubles as an ALS unit, for a total of six units that provide primary coverage to 35 of the 70 communities in Bergen County. The units are strategically stationed for optimal response time within our primary coverage area:

Below is a list of the towns in which we provide primary paramedic service:

In addition to providing ALS, the Mobile ICU also has specialty teams such as the Emergency Trauma Response Team (ETRT) which is staffed with highly trained paramedics who work side-by-side with the Bergen County Special Operations Team and Bergen County SWAT to provide front-line medical care during high-risk operations.

Our Bike Team provides ALS coverage for events which have a high number of people in a designated space. By placing paramedics on bicycles, we are able to deliver ALS care to a patient within a crowed area or in areas which are not easily assessable with a motor vehicle.

HackensackUMC Mobile ICU operates the Bergen County Mass Causality Unit (MCI) (161) which is a joint program between Bergen County, the Bergen County 200 Club and HUMC. This truck was designed to support the EMS agencies in Bergen County during an MCI’s by providing additional supplies and equipment to manage up to 200 critically injured patients.

Paramedic communications are handled by MICCOM which is located in Hackensack, NJ. All requests for ALS services are directed to MICCOM, which then dispatches the closest unit based on current Automatic Vehicle Locator (AVL) technology. MICCOM is responsible for dispatching all Paramedic units in Bergen, Passaic and part of Morris Counties. In 2008, MICCOM received approximately 115,000 requests for EMS service in the region. The Communications Center provides ALS/BLS dispatching, EMD education and 9-1-1 call screening.