In which counties is 155.34 still used for paramedic to hospital comms?

[bailly2]

I heard it being used for a patient report around south hunterdon county but it was such a weak signal. Thanks

 

[u2brent]

Licensee	Callsign	City	County
ATLANTICARE MEDICAL CENTER EMS	WPVV490	ATLANTIC CITY	ATLANTIC
ATLANTIC CITY MEDICAL CENTER	KEM680	ATLANTIC CITY	ATLANTIC
EDGEWATER, BOROUGH OF	WPIY681		BERGEN
NATIONAL SKI PATROL SYSTEM INC	WNIX721	MAHWAH	BERGEN
HACKENSACK UMC PV , LLC	WQVI677	WESTWOOD	BERGEN
Northern NJ EMS Communications (MICCOM)	WPCC879	WYCKOFF	BERGEN
FAIRVIEW, BOROUGH OF	WPIK654		BERGEN
HOLY NAME HOSPITAL	KVD525	TEANECK	BERGEN
ENGLEWOOD HOSPITAL AND MEDICAL CENTER	KEO266	ENGLEWOOD	BERGEN
BERGEN REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER	WQPM596	PARAMUS	BERGEN
Hackensack Meridian Health, Inc.	KEP630	HACKENSACK	BERGEN
BURLINGTON, COUNTY OF	WPQY231		BURLINGTON
BURLINGTON, COUNTY OF	WPQY231	WESTAMPTON TOWNSHIP	BURLINGTON
WEST JERSEY HEALTH SYSTEM	WNHE575	VOORHEES	CAMDEN
CAMDEN, COUNTY OF	WQN901		CAMDEN
CAMDEN, COUNTY OF	WQN900		CAMDEN
CAMDEN, COUNTY OF	WQN901	LINDENWOLD	CAMDEN
CAMDEN, COUNTY OF	WQN900	PINE HILL	CAMDEN
CAPE MAY, COUNTY OF	WPCI999	CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE	CAPE MAY
CAPE MAY, COUNTY OF	WPCI999		CAPE MAY
Cape Regional Medical Center, Inc.	WQXY850	CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE	CAPE MAY
CUMBERLAND, COUNTY OF	KNAA943		CUMBERLAND
South Jersey Hospital Inc	KNFE759		CUMBERLAND
South Jersey Hospital Inc	KNFE759	BRIDGETON	CUMBERLAND
CUMBERLAND, COUNTY OF	KNAA943	ROSENHAYN	CUMBERLAND
ST BARNABAS MEDICAL CENTER	KBM285	LIVINGSTON	ESSEX
Montclair Hospital LLC/ DBA Hackensack UMC Mountainside	KGN532	VERONA	ESSEX
UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL EMS UH/UMDNJ	KVV773	NEWARK	ESSEX
Montclair Hospital LLC/ DBA Hackensack UMC Mountainside	KGN532		ESSEX
Montclair Hospital LLC/ DBA Hackensack UMC Mountainside	KGN532	MONTCLAIR	ESSEX
SOUTH ORANGE RESCUE SQUAD INC	KUS502	SOUTH ORANGE	ESSEX
GLOUCESTER, COUNTY OF	KNAT231	CLAYTON	GLOUCESTER
GLOUCESTER, COUNTY OF	KNAT231	MOUNT ROYAL	GLOUCESTER
UNDERWOOD MEMORIAL HOSPITAL	KTY940	WOODBURY	GLOUCESTER
JERSEY CITY MEDICAL CENTER	WNGK988	JERSEY CITY	HUDSON
HOBOKEN UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER	WQQH929	HOBOKEN	HUDSON
HARRISON, TOWN OF	WPCY555		HUDSON
HUNTERDON, COUNTY OF	KYQ553	FLEMINGTON	HUNTERDON
HUNTERDON, COUNTY OF	KYQ553		HUNTERDON
MIDDLESEX, COUNTY OF	WQCB448	SAYREVILLE	MIDDLESEX
TRANSMED AMBULANCE TRANSPORT INC	WNNL873	E BRUNSWICK	MIDDLESEX
ROBERT WOOD JOHNSON UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL	KTD380	NEW BRUNSWICK	MIDDLESEX
RARITAN BAY MEDICAL CENTER	KLM656	PERTH AMBOY	MIDDLESEX
Borough Of Spotswood	KED697	SPOTSWOOD	MIDDLESEX
MONROE TOWNSHIP FIRST AID SQUAD	KNBJ827	SPOTSWOOD	MIDDLESEX
JOHN F KENNEDY MEDICAL CENTER	WSS381	EDISON	MIDDLESEX
Rutgers, The State University of N.J.	WNWC902		MIDDLESEX
Buckeye Partners, L.P.	WPIN936		MIDDLESEX
MIDDLESEX, COUNTY OF	KAF598	SAYREVILLE	MIDDLESEX
EAST BRUNSWICK, TOWNSHIP OF	WGK225	EAST BRUNSWICK	MIDDLESEX
MIDDLESEX, COUNTY OF	KAF598	NEW BRUNSWICK	MIDDLESEX
UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER AT PRINCETON	WQAD858	PLAINSBORO	MIDDLESEX
TRANSMED AMBULANCE TRANSPORT INC	WNNL873		MIDDLESEX
MIDDLESEX, COUNTY OF	KAF598		MIDDLESEX
MIDDLETOWN, TOWNSHIP OF	KB28127		MONMOUTH
CENTRA STATE MEDICAL CENTER	WQFG371	FREEHOLD	MONMOUTH
MONMOUTH, COUNTY OF	KQN328	FREEHOLD	MONMOUTH
MONMOUTH, COUNTY OF	KQN328		MONMOUTH
MONMOUTH, COUNTY OF	WZJ577	FREEHOLD	MONMOUTH
CHILTON MEMORIAL HOSPITAL	KLP796	POMPTON PLAINS	MORRIS
NATIONAL SKI PATROL SYSTEM INC	WNIX714	NEWFOUNDLAND	MORRIS
Atlantic Health/Atlantic Ambulance	KTY944	MORRIS TOWNSHIP	MORRIS
Atlantic Health/Atlantic Ambulance	KTY944	MORRISTOWN	MORRIS
OCEAN, COUNTY OF	KMK200	TOMS RIVER	OCEAN
HOLIDAY CITY BERKLEY FIRST AID SQUAD INC	WNLH786		OCEAN
Ocean County O.E.M.	KNGD697	BERKELEY TOWNSHIP	OCEAN
LACEY, TOWNSHIP OF	KNGD546	FORKED RIVER	OCEAN
Monmouth Medical Center Southern Campus	KZI304	LAKEWOOD	OCEAN
LACEY TOWNSHIP FIRST AID SQUAD	KNHD624	FORKED RIVER	OCEAN
Monmouth Medical Center Southern Campus	KZI304	WHITING	OCEAN
County of Passaic, Office of Emergency Management	WNQJ876	PATERSON	PASSAIC
Northern NJ EMS Communications (MICCOM)	WPCC879	WAYNE	PASSAIC
Northern NJ EMS Communications (MICCOM)	WPCC879		PASSAIC
SAINT JOSEPHS HOSPITAL & MEDICAL CENTER	KRR952	PATERSON	PASSAIC
County of Passaic, Office of Emergency Management	WNQJ876		PASSAIC
SALEM, COUNTY OF	WRU898	WOODSTOWN	SALEM
Salem County Hospital Corp., dba Salem Medical Center	KET294	SALEM	SALEM
EAST MILLSTONE FIRST AID SQUAD	KIB250		SOMERSET
HILLSBOROUGH, TOWNSHIP OF	WNQX220		SOMERSET
NATIONAL SKI PATROL SYSTEM INC	KDU988	VERNON	SUSSEX
ROSELLE, BOROUGH OF	KXA240		UNION
UNION, COUNTY OF	KGU445	WESTFIELD	UNION
Atlantic Health System / DBA Cencom	KSO655	SUMMIT	UNION
St. Luke's Hospital - Warren Campus	KYU570	PHILLIPSBURG	WARREN

I don't know about used, but these are licensed..

 

[bailly2]

Saw that last night on the fcc website. Would assume if its licensed to 2025 it would be used but not necessarily. First time i heard it in 2 years

 

[u2brent]

These are confirmed in the RR DB. They may not be the primary means of communication, So just because it's licensed doesn't really help in knowing if it's used or how often it's used, could be a backup or kept active for interop, or is the primary use.

Freq Out	Freq In	Tone	Callsign	Description	Category	Agency/County	State
155.34000		156.7 PL	VMED28 - EMS	VHF Public Safety Mutual Aid Common Public Safety Common	National Interoperability
155.34000			JEMS 2 Ambulance to Hospital	New Jersey Emergency Medical Services Communication Plan Common/Shared	NJ Common/Shared	NJ
155.34000		118.8 PL	KNIF290	EMS Ambulance-to-Hospital	Fire/EMS Atlantic County	Atlantic	NJ
155.34000		CSQ	WZZ986	Fire - Rescue 4 (FD/EMS Heavy Rescue - Coordination with Hospitals)	Lyndhurst Municipalities	Bergen	NJ
155.34000		100.0 PL	WPCC879	JEMS 2	Northern New Jersey Mobile Intensive-Care Consortium (MICCOM) Local Fire/EMS	Bergen	NJ
155.34000		CSQ	WPQY231	EMS	Fire/EMS Burlington County	Burlington	NJ
155.34000		192.8 PL	WQN901	EMS-to-Hospital (H.E.A.R.)	Fire/EMS Camden County	Camden	NJ
155.34000			WPCI999	EMS Operations	Fire/EMS Cape May County	Cape May	NJ
155.34000			KNAT231	Hospital Emergency Alert Receiver (HEAR)	Fire/EMS Gloucester County	Gloucester	NJ
155.34000		CSQ	WPUN580	JEMS 2 Ambulance to Hospital ER	EMS Hudson County	Hudson	NJ
155.34000		192.8 PL	KYQ553	EMS - H.E.A.R. (EMS to Hospital Notifications)	Fire/EMS Hunterdon County	Hunterdon	NJ
155.34000		192.8 PL	KYQ553	EMS-to-Hospital Notifications (JEMS 2)	Hunterdon Medical Center Hospitals	Hunterdon	NJ
155.34000		CSQ	KAF598	JEMS-2 EMS Ambulances Mutual Aid	Fire/EMS Middlesex County	Middlesex	NJ
155.34000		103.5 PL	KTD380	JEMS-2 EMS Mutual Aid	Fire/EMS Middlesex County	Middlesex	NJ
155.34000		151.4 PL	WQP813	JEMS-2 EMS St. Peters Hosp Mutual Aid	Fire/EMS Middlesex County	Middlesex	NJ
155.34000		CSQ	KMK200	EMS 2 H.E.A.R.	EMS Ocean County	Ocean	NJ
155.34000			WPCC879	EMS to Hospital	Northern New Jersey Mobile Intensive-Care Consortium (MICCOM) Local Fire/EMS	Passaic	NJ
155.34000			WRU898	EMS to Hospital Notifications (VHF Plan)	Fire and EMS Salem County	Salem	NJ
155.34000		141.3 PL	WNLN707	EMS HEAR	Fire/EMS Sussex County	Sussex	NJ
155.34000		156.7 PL	WNVY825	EMS Tactical	Fire/EMS Sussex County	Sussex	NJ
155.34000		85.4 PL	KYU570	EMS to Warren Hospital	Fire/EMS Warren County	Warren	NJ

 

[JMR3865]

NOT used in Monmouth County. Some of the hospitals actually took the system out. Imagine using this system for heads up of COVID rather than tying up a dispatcher to call via phone... hmm

 

[kd2pm]

Back in the day, when I was still an EMT I remember when they installed the HEAR radios in our rigs...those were the rotary ones! They eventually went to DTMF and from there I dont even know if they are used as intended if at all. The paramedics had the med channels they used on UHF. Dont recall hearing much on those in NJ with alot of ALS being on P25. LTE has changed the medical landscape also and with Firstnet pushing public safety more and more...cell data will eventually be the downfall to scanner listeners just like back when cell carriers went from analog to digial and the scanners were also locked out of the old AMPS band.

 

[K2NEC]

We still use our HEAR radios. Not many other squads/departments/companies do but when we call in our patient, they usually thank us. The hospitals ARE still listening to their radios, at least the ones that we transport to.

 

[mondaro]

Here is the issue when the State Department of Health installed the HERN System in the hospital's Emergency Departments after that most hospitals abandoned their HEAR Radios. The only one I hear active is St Barnabas in Livingston NJ - I tried to get my local hospital to hook there back up but it fell on deaf ears because they don't give a ****. EMS coordination and interoperability sucks in the State of New Jersey always did and always will, the thinking is to use your cell phone to contact the ED. This is coming to a 39-year career EMT, We need to have a system like the state of Maryland but that would require thinking, instead of pissing away grant funding on nonsense, have every 9-11 BLS and MEDIC unit tied to a regional and statewide radio system like NJICS so if you need to coordinate with medical control like a REMCS, MICCOM or the county you can do it, sorry in advance if this steps on some nerves out there, end of rant.

 

[IVAN708]

It looks like N.J.A.C. 8:43G-12.9-e is still on the books.

 

[Steve162]

When I became a medic in Newark in 1985 we used the UHF MED channels to call into our ED for orders. We only had MED 1 through MED 8 as MEDs 9&10 were reserved for "dispatch." (We used VHF for dispatch and scene coordination.) It was often a circus because there were too many dispatch centers assigning MED channels to paramedics.

155.340, aka "JEMS 2," aka, "the HEAR channel," was only used by BLS for notifications to the EDs when they were enroute with a patient. No orders were given on that frequency exept in rare circumstances. In Newark JEMS 2 was seldom used as both ALS and BLS units would call into the REMCS dispatcher for notifications to the EDs. Only the occasional BLS from outside the University Hospital EMS system would use JEMS 2 and that was also a rare thing. In several EDs in Newark the JEMS 2 control device often was buried under paperwork, nurses' purses, or food containers.

As time passed most MICU projects transitioned to cellular telephones for calling the EDs for orders and I doubt there is much traffic on the MED channels these days. I haven't monitored 155.340 in a long time because I already have enough pain in my life.

By the way, "HEAR" was actuallyl a Motorola acronym for "Hospital Emergency Administrative Radio." GE called it "EACOM," for Emergency Administrateive COMmunications. Same principle, different marketing tool.

 

[mshumeyk]

When I became a medic in Newark in 1985 we used the UHF MED channels to call into our ED for orders. We only had MED 1 through MED 8 as MEDs 9&10 were reserved for "dispatch." (We used VHF for dispatch and scene coordination.) It was often a circus because there were too many dispatch centers assigning MED channels to paramedics.

I spent 9 years in medical school and residencies at UMDNJ Newark, now part of Rutgers. After freshman year my summer project was observing the stress factors affecting the dispatchers at MEDCOM , which had to change name to REMCS due to "MEDCOM" being registered as the name of a medical slide company on Long Island. The guys let me ride with some of the EMS units which was a great experience.

I spent time working in the University Hospital ED in 1981-1983 and was present when the UHF MED radio was first installed. I really enjoyed communicating with the EMS units on the radio and they enjoyed speaking with a doc who was actually familiar with radio coms. I lent my girlfriend a scanner and she was impressed hearing me over the radio.

I also remember when the HEAR radio system was initiated in Bergen County. The local newspaper actually mentioned the 155.34 frequency in their article on the system so I ordered a crystal for the frequency for my Regency scanner. The channel was quite busy with all of the hospitals in the area. The rotary dial tone calls to open the hospital radios were indeed quite painful to the ear.

 

[902]

When I became a medic in Newark in 1985 we used the UHF MED channels to call into our ED for orders. We only had MED 1 through MED 8 as MEDs 9&10 were reserved for "dispatch." (We used VHF for dispatch and scene coordination.) It was often a circus because there were too many dispatch centers assigning MED channels to paramedics.

155.340, aka "JEMS 2," aka, "the HEAR channel," was only used by BLS for notifications to the EDs when they were enroute with a patient. No orders were given on that frequency exept in rare circumstances. In Newark JEMS 2 was seldom used as both ALS and BLS units would call into the REMCS dispatcher for notifications to the EDs. Only the occasional BLS from outside the University Hospital EMS system would use JEMS 2 and that was also a rare thing. In several EDs in Newark the JEMS 2 control device often was buried under paperwork, nurses' purses, or food containers.

As time passed most MICU projects transitioned to cellular telephones for calling the EDs for orders and I doubt there is much traffic on the MED channels these days. I haven't monitored 155.340 in a long time because I already have enough pain in my life.

By the way, "HEAR" was actuallyl a Motorola acronym for "Hospital Emergency Administrative Radio." GE called it "EACOM," for Emergency Administrateive COMmunications. Same principle, different marketing tool.

During that timeframe, I was building HUDCEN across Newark Bay from you. We were extremely limited, with the original base station being only a 4 channel Micor semi-duplex base. Listening on an Icom R-7000 from my home, I could hear tons of heterodyne on the 468 MHz side from mobiles communicating with medical control from HUDCEN, REMCS, MICCOM, CENCOM and any other "com" you want all selecting MED 4. We attempted to deconflict that, but eventually settled with lower power semi-duplex base stations that could be turned into repeaters, one at Bayonne Hosp., one on the Surgical Building at the MC, and one in West New York on top of the town hall. The objective was to reduce the range between the mobiles and the APCORs (we had one mobile repeater). The mobile repeaters were worse, because there were only 4 453 MHz 1 Watt APCOR to mobile repeater channels and they were reused in the scheme, so MED 1, MED 5, and MED 9 were on one talk-back, MED 2, MED 6, and MED 10 were on another, 3 and 6, and 4 and 7. It was very tricky and a genuine pain to coordinate.

"Paramedic #1," Bob Miller, was pushing a MED 10 interface device that would send a tone over MED 10 whenever a communications center assigned a MED channel. That tone would light a lamp on a display. It failed because those base stations could not talk to each other. They only received on the 468 side, and the base transmitted on the 463 side. It was impossible unless a second auxiliary receiver was installed. It never really got off the ground. So, the net result was that you guys used A,B, and C; we used D, E, and F; and MICCOM used G,H, and I, etc. At least until Henry Bros. prototyped an AMPS bagphone that fit in an old Motorola coronary observation radio crate and had an ECG modulator. That worked, but the 1980s AMPS cellular network was sporadic at best.

At its fullest capability, I had an alpha, beta, and gamma medical control console in the ER for the medical or surgical attending, plus a spare upstairs in HUDCEN. The dispatcher could select which base station and which MED channel would go to which console. The biggest problem we had was the people selected to be dispatchers failed to understand that the base station nearest the call should be used, and instead they would use the base station that was closest to the home unit (so, let's say MC-14 went to North Bergen, they'd try to use the Bayonne base to do medical control in North Bergen when the other two bases would be much more appropriate). Basically, each base was a MASTR II T8-R8 station with a duplexer, but operated in semi-duplex. There was a separate MED 9 base. The dispatcher could press a button and turn MED 9 into a repeater, but normally it would be knocked-down. Sometimes we set it up for special events.

I did build into the spec that HUDCEN had to have DTMF decoders on 155.34 and 155.28 both. The Hudson County DTMF would open and the JCMC DTMF would open as well. I think it was either 5900 or 5901. I can't remember anymore. It would unmute and alert at the console and the dispatcher would need to relay the information to the ER. By the mid-80s we did not support the 1400 Hz dial pulse encoders at all.

We also had a SPEN-4 base station that I put in for the Statue of Liberty Centennial celebration. Seems like that came in handy a few other times in the history of the MC and that area, especially for MCIs.

Fun fact - the original dispatch frequency for Jersey City was 155.265, which had to be changed in 1984 or so, because of Hatzolah across the way in Brooklyn. That base was a ratty old non-unified chassis Motorola Micor HEAR base with the remote in the ambulance garage. It would be nothing but echo. Punching a dispatch timecard sounded like banging a 2x4 on the desk. Before the new system (WNGK988) was implemented on 155.235, there literally was no license. When I got the responsibility for the build-out in 1985, after I came over from NYCEMS, one of the first things I had to do was get them a license. We were so ERP restricted that it was nuts. The private ambulance companies in Staten Island would wipe out calls for assistance and it required adding voting receivers in Bayonne and West New York to get fuller coverage. I came into work one day and there was a complaint that our already weak signal was weaker. I go up on the Medical Building roof and see a ham repeater snuck in there and put a hammie antenna right up against the unity gain trombone antenna we were using (!). His response? "Oh, I didn't think anyone was using that piece of..." I don't think I ever laughed as hard (when I was dismantling his antenna and tie-wrapping his power cord).

Hey - you forgot to mention the all-important, "REMCS to North Ward! REMCS to North Ward!" on the radio, too. I forget if that was JEMS 2 or JEMS 3. I hear Judd didn't have any of those problems at Martland.

 

[Steve162]

Ahh, the good ol' days!

 

[timekeeper]

Yes, the good old days. I miss those days. All communication was analog. NO digital. The HEAR channel was useful when the hospital would have the radio on. I'm sure you guys know that a few years ago the FDNY EMS implemented a Notification channel on the City's 400 mhz digital trunk system. That something I said we should have implemented over 30 years ago when got on the job and it was still NYC EMS. The good old days indeed. Keep alert stay alive. 73.

 

[902]

I'm sure you guys know that a few years ago the FDNY EMS implemented a Notification channel on the City's 400 mhz digital trunk system. That something I said we should have implemented over 30 years ago when got on the job and it was still NYC EMS.

No more #797 at the Citywide desk. (I was on the job, too, back in the Green and White timeframe.)