Cooper University Health Care’s Emergency Medical Services (EMS) is celebrating its 10-year anniversary of serving Camden. This milestone highlights a decade of quicker response times, innovative care, and strong partnerships in the community.
Since its start in January 2016, Cooper EMS has responded to hundreds of thousands of emergency calls. They’ve achieved a key goal: arriving at advanced life support (ALS) calls in under eight minutes more than 90% of the time.
Before Cooper took over, basic life support and ALS came from different organizations, leading to longer response times. With the new integrated EMS model, ALS units consistently arrive within that critical eight-minute window. This standard has been maintained for nearly ten years.
Kevin O’Dowd, co-CEO of Cooper University Health Care, expressed, “Ten years ago, we promised Camden residents we would improve emergency response times and expand services. Through careful planning and strong partnerships, the Cooper EMS team has kept that promise.”
Cooper EMS also addresses the opioid crisis. In 2019, they started a program allowing paramedics to give buprenorphine to patients in acute withdrawal after an overdose reversal. This initiative, approved by the New Jersey Commissioner of Health, has become a national model for dealing with opioid addiction.
Recent data show that opioid overdoses have surged across the U.S., emphasizing the need for such programs. According to the CDC, more than 107,000 people died from overdose in 2021 alone. These numbers highlight the importance of programs like Cooper’s in saving lives and offering critical support.
Overall, Cooper EMS’s decade-long commitment has made a real difference in emergency medical care in Camden. Their efforts continue to inspire hope and change in the community.
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Advanced Life Support,Cooper University Health Care,Emergency Medical Services
