Bill A-444 has already been unanimously approved by the state Assembly and is now sitting before the Senate Education Committee. The bill was proposed by Assemblymen Jerry Green, Jack Conners, Herb Conaway Jr., and Jon M. Bramnick.

If approved, the bill would disqualify members from serving on a school board if they have been convicted of serious crimes, according to an article by NJ.com.

It also would require school board members to pay for the cost of their own background checks out of pocket or with campaign money. The New Jersey Department of Education states the checks usually cost about $80.

As there is currently no rule preventing someone with a conviction from serving on a school board, the new bill would serve as a way to expand the protections already offered by background checks required of other school workers who have regular contact with children.

The bill would give school board members 30 days to undergo a background check. Most background checks are handled by the New Jersey Department of Education's Office of Criminal History Review. Those checks, which are done by the state and FBI, are then processed through a private company.

The New Jersey School Boards Association supports the majority of the bill, but would prefer an option allowing school districts to pay for the background checks and the checks to be extended to all elected officials.

Jersey City Medical Center's Emergency Medical Service, operated by LibertyHealth, recently received accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation of Ambulance Services. This is the first ambulance service in northern New Jersey, the third in the state and one of only 135 across the country to receive the accreditation.

"This accreditation reflects the commitment we have to the people in the community who depend on us for their well being," Christopher Rinn, EMS director, said. "It's a real credit to the hard work, perseverance and professionalism of our medical director Dr. Bill Wang and the 250 individuals who comprise our team, and it speaks to the commitment the hospital has in maintaining a first class emergency medical service for Jersey City and Hudson County."

The EMS program was accredited after undergoing a voluntary review process, which included completion of a comprehensive application and an on-site review by a team of national EMS experts, according to EMSResponder.com. JCMC received special special recognition for having no deficiencies during the review.

"This is another wonderful tribute that is being paid to the work of the Jersey City Medical Center EMS," LibertyHealth Chair Robert Margulies said. "In addition to ambulance groups from Europe and Canada visiting here expressly to observe its operations, EMS was recently named a finalist in a prestigious statewide competition for its innovation in healthcare."

The CAAS was established to encourage and promote quality patient care in America's medical transportation system and was initially based on the efforts of the American Ambulance Association.

The CAAS acts as an independent commission to establish a comprehensive series of standards for the ambulance service industry, which address patient care and the ambulance service's total operation and relationships with other agencies, the general public and the medical community.

In order for an ambulance service to be accredited by the CAAS, they must meet the "gold standard" determined by the industry to be essential in a modern EMS provider. These standards often exceed those established by state or local regulations.

"We're very proud of our EMS team's ability to meet the Commission's extremely demanding standards," said Joseph Scott, president and CEO of LibertyHealth, said. "It speaks volumes to the standards held by both EMS and the hospital, and reinforces our mission of 'enhancing life.'"

The New Jersey Staffing Alliance has teamed up with Applied Systems Technology to offer a series of "Web 2.0 and the Staffing Industry" seminars. The five remaining sessions will take place at the Sheraton Edison Hotel in the Raritan Center in Edison, N.J.

The first seminar, which took place at the end of January, attracted more than 70 attendees. The seminar featured Everett Reiss, project and account manager for AST, who spoke on "Social Media Success Stories in the Staffing Industry."

Reiss not only offered three action points that staffing firms can use when formulating a social media strategy, but also conducted a video interview with the technical recruiter for Contemporary Personnel Staffing and set up a panel with three experts from The Assurance Group, Wells Fargo Capital Finance and ASJ Partners.

The remaining five forums to take place include:

• "How to Use LinkedIn for Staffing Firms," with John Hassett, Northeast Account Executive, from 5 to 7:30 p.m. February 23
• "How to Use Social Media to Bolster Your Recruiting Efforts," with Reiss, from 8 to 10 a.m. March 23
• "How to Twitter and Source Candidates," with Rob Tyson, CPC, president and CEO of Bonifield Associates, from 5 to 7:30 p.m. April 20
• "Building Awareness, Influence, Reputation, and Authority Using Facebook for Staffing and Recruiting Professionals," with Tracey Madden, CPC, CTS, and president of McIntosh Staffing Resources, LLC, from 5 to 7:30 p.m. May 18
• "Building Profitable Web 2.0 Activities Into Your Daily Work Lives," with Reiss, from 8 to 10 a.m. June 22

EMS jobs are growing in popularity throughout the country. The overall healthcare industry is one of the few that has continued to add jobs despite the current economic recession and the industry is expected to continue to grow at a fast pace during the near future.

The outlook for EMTs and paramedics is a promising one, with positions in the field to grow faster than the average for all industries. In addition, most EMS jobs pay well, with the average salary in New Jersey around $32,110 per year.

However, anyone interested in becoming an EMT or paramedic must first obtain the proper training. Luckily, there are several colleges throughout New Jersey that can prepare you for a future EMS career. The top three colleges, according to Education-Portal.com, are:

Camden County College in Blackwood - This school offers a paramedic certificate and associate degree in conjunction with the multi-hospital healthcare system Virtua. The associate program will provide students with a degree in Applied Science in Paramedic Science.

Certificate training consists of three classroom semesters and five clinical semesters. The five semesters of clinical training consists of hospital, emergency room and laboratory work, as well as 320 internship hours and 180 field residency hours as a member of a mobile intensive care unit.

Students learn paramedic responsibilities, including anatomy and physiology, disease management, advanced patient assessment, emergency skills and techniques, advanced life support, EKG interpretation, trauma, pediatrics and neo-natal care.

Upon graduation, students will receive a professional certificate of completion and 42 academic credits, while students in the associate program will earn an additional 26 general education credits. All students will be eligible to take the New Jersey State and National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians-Paramedic exams.

Union County College in Cranford - This school offers a paramedic didactic program that provides training to students interested in pathophysiology and those who can work in an uncontrolled environment. Applicants must first be EMT-Basic certified, approved by the program director and sponsored by a NJ Department of Health approved hospital with an active MICU program.

Training lasts two semesters, including a paramedic skills course and a paramedic laboratory course, which must be taken in order. Students must achieve a grade of C or better in all courses. They will receive training in cardiac, respiratory, neurological and renal systems, pharmacology, geriatric and pediatric age-specific situations, advanced patient assessment and application of emergency pre-hospital treatment skills.

Following the two semesters of training, students must complete a clinical rotation as a paramedic at their sponsoring hospital. Graduates will receive a certification of completion and be eligible to sit for the state and national exams.

Hudson County Community College in Jersey City - This school offers an Associate in Applied Science in Paramedic Science in conjunction with the Jersey City Medical Center. In order to apply, students must have a valid New Jersey driver's license, a state EMT-Basic certification and sponsorship from JCMC.

The five-semester course consists of 66 credit programs, including lectures and laboratories. Of those credits, 33 are in general education and obtained at the college campus, while 30 are in paramedic science and obtained at JCMC's campus and laboratory sites.

Students can expect to receive training in anatomy and physiology, shock and trauma management, pre-hospital special operations, emergency cardiac care, psychology, advanced patient assessment, pre-hospital medical emergencies and special population pre-hospital care.

After completing all course hours and a mandatory field internship conducted by JCMC, graduates will receive their associates degree and be qualified to take the state and national exams.