NY State Flood Response...uh, not quite yet!

[Richard B the EMT]

From the NY State Volunteer Ambulance and Rescue Association...

Event is over. Just sending this out for FYI.

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On 7/2/13 the NYS DOH Bureau of EMS sent out an e-mail notice to County EMS Coordinators and other points of contact that “The National Weather Service is advising that severe weather is continuing in the areas that have been affected over the last few days (primarily Herkimer and Oneida Counties in the mid state region) and will continue into the Fourth of July Holiday. BEMS is asking that you and your EMS agencies and personnel take appropriate safety precautions and that you poll your ambulance services to determine availability to deploy to affected areas in the Central NY Region SHOULD nursing homes or hospitals need to be evacuated or supplementation of the 911 system become necessary. We would be looking for 2-5 ambulances per county with any combination of BLS/ALS” and asking for a reply “with availability for arbitrary operational period of 1800 Wednesday 7/3-0600 Thursday 7/4 and continuing with 12 hour ops periods throughout the weekend including overnights. I would think that you'd want to send ambulances for 6-8 operational periods and then have them return home and we'd send in assets from another county”.

This was followed by a notice to the same audience advising “On Wednesday 7/3/13, after consulting with the Mid-State REMSCO a few minutes ago, it has been determined that EMS is experiencing normal everyday operations in the flood affected areas of Herkimer and Oneida Counties. There has been no influx in call volume and their are no staffing issues currently. Additionally, there are no hospitals or nursing homes in immediate danger of flooding that would require evacuation of patients/residents. The Bureau of EMS appreciates the willingness of the counties to step up and help their colleagues in the mid state region. We had 8 counties offer 20 BLS and 6 ALS ambulances. As it turns out, there will be no need for activation of the Statewide EMS Mobilization Plan related to the heavy rain event. This has been a good opportunity for BEMS and the counties to practice the polling procedure”.