State's Emergency Medical Services system needs first aid The results of the recently released New Jersey Emergency Medical Services (EMS) study mirrors those of three previous studies in past decades. Had some of the earlier recommendations been timely implemented, taxpayers might have saved this latest $250,000 analysis tab. The 78-year-old New Jersey State First Aid Council (NJSFAC) continues reviewing the lengthy document and will have more extensive comments as discussions progress. Two points merit immediate attention, however. New Jersey's EMS system will not collapse tomorrow, as some might insist. Admittedly, it needs first aid of its own, but we wouldn't power up the defibrillator just yet. Contrary to comments in the document, the NJSFAC obliged fully with reasonable requests for data. We did, however, decline to provide data that was asked of our organization alone, and not requested of any other EMS providers in the state and also would not affect the report. Singling out our EMS volunteers for an unreasonable request, then characterizing us as uncooperative is harmful and wrong. The study is correct that the EMS providers - volunteer and paid - are treated as secondclass citizens, always last in the funding and consideration lines behind fire and police, even though the services we provide are just as vital. This skewed mindset must change if New Jersey's EMS system is to survive. Sue Van Orden President New Jersey State First Aid Council Lincoln Park