By Ken Thorbourne
The Jersey Journal
Copyright 2007 The Jersey Journal
JERSEY CITY, N.J. — The Jersey City Medical Center has a secret weapon when it comes to shaving the response time of its ambulances to medical emergencies. It’s simply “Marvelis,” hospital officials say.
In place for nearly two years, the Mobile Area Routing Vehicle Location Information System has enabled the hospital to strategically position its ambulance fleet, resulting in the reduction in average response time from 8 minutes and 24 seconds to 6 minutes, officials said.
“By utilizing this technology, we are saving lives,” said Christopher Rinn, the hospital’s director of emergency medical services. “If we didn’t have this technology we’d have to deploy double the amount of ambulances to cover the same area.”
Cheryl Delikat, an EMS supervisor for 20 years, also swears by the computer software program, purchased from South Carolina-based Bradshaw Consulting Services for $250,000.
“It’s predicting where the next 911 call is going to be,” Delikat said. “The closer the unit, the better the response time.”
The theory behind Marvelis is the future is best predicted by examining the past.
At any given moment, the computer software is analyzing the 911 calls that came into the hospital during that same hour on that same day during a 20-week period in prior years, officials said. The 20-week period is a constantly shifting snapshot of 10 weeks prior to that day and 10 weeks hence, officials said. The computer then updates the information every five minutes, officials said.
This data is visually displayed on a color-coded screen. The darkest area - “the blob” as EMS coordinator Rick Sposa calls it - represents the highest volume area.
The EMS managers position the hospital’s ambulance fleet - which ranges from six during the middle of the night to 13 during the busiest periods - based on the blob, officials said.
“Sometimes the blob splits into two and we have to adjust,” Sposa said.
The hospital provides EMT coverage for Jersey City and Secaucus and paramedic services for all of Hudson County.
Jerry Overton, chief executive officer for the Richmond, Va.-based Ambulance Authority and a highly regarded expert in the field of medical emergency response, praised the hospital’s use of Marvelis.
“We’ve had it two years,” said Overton. “We know it has shortened response times. It does put them (the Jersey City Medical Center) way ahead of the curve.”