The New Jersey EMS Task Force has been presented with 15 pairs of trauma shears from the xShear Company, creators of the high-end EMS tool. The new shears will be used in the field on emergency responses by EMS providers throughout the state.
The donation of the trauma shears, valued at $500, is part of the xShear Company’s ongoing program to support non-profit organizations in the healthcare, public safety and military fields.
“Every day our members are operating on emergency EMS scenes or in pre-planned operations of the New Jersey EMS Task Force,” said Joe Anderson, treasurer of the NJEMSTF. “This generous donation will have a direct impact on the men and women of the NJ EMS Task Force and the people they serve.”
The xShear Company was founded in 2016 by paramedic and flight nurse Wes Brubaker, RN, EMT-P, who wanted to design a better trauma sheer than the typical disposable shears in the market. The goal was to create a shear that would outperform and outlast everything else available.
The NJ EMS Task Force is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that represents more than 200 career and volunteer EMS providers throughout the state, who are trained in various disciplines of emergency medical services to respond to large-scale man-made and natural disasters as well as pre-planned events.
Since being activated in March 2020 as part of New Jersey’s pandemic response, NJEMSTF members have handled such missions as deploying Western Shelter tent facilities at 20 hospitals, placing oxygen generators at various facilities, and coordinating the deployment of its medical ambulance bus fleet to transport COVID-19 positive patients from long term care facilities and hospitals. The team helped coordinate the deployment of hundreds of out-of-state FEMA ambulance teams to assist local agencies at the height of the pandemic.
The NJ EMS Task Force also began an innovative tracking and transfer process of COVID-19 vaccines throughout the state. Working under strict CDC guidelines, teams of highly trained NJ EMS Task Force members have transferred more than 500,000 doses each week to locations where the demand is highest. The vaccine transfer program is done in partnership with the New Jersey Department of Health.
Throughout the pandemic, the NJEMSTF has evolved – and grown its mission. Members have worked tirelessly to strategize and develop new ways of preparing EMS operations across the state to respond to the evolving threats facing residents. Those threats include the ongoing pandemic, natural disasters such as hurricanes, flooding and wildfires, and potential man-made incidents at our ports, rail stations, transportation hubs, and anywhere there could be mass gatherings of people.
Follow the NJEMSTF on Facebook, on Twitter and online at www.njemstf.org.
