NEW MERVs

[Capttomo]

I am surprised that FDNY EMS does not have there own Field Comm Unit like fire does.

I was just asking that question last week. The communications needs of managing a mass casualty incident in a large urban area are complex and require a lot of coordination beyond the rear of a supervisor vehicle or a command table. Tracking all inbound ambulances, staging resources, polling hospitals to ascertain how many reds, yellow and green they can each take, tracking which units are transporting to which hospitals. Communicating with command staff, medical director, hospitals via landlines, coordination of EMS specialty units etc. I think NYC EMS could certainly use a staffed and dedicated field comm. JMO

 

[Skyler Fire]

I was just asking that question last week. The communications needs of managing a mass casualty incident in a large urban area are complex and require a lot of coordination beyond the rear of a supervisor vehicle or a command table. Tracking all inbound ambulances, staging resources, polling hospitals to ascertain how many reds, yellow and green they can each take, tracking which units are transporting to which hospitals. Communicating with command staff, medical director, hospitals via landlines, coordination of EMS specialty units etc. I think NYC EMS could certainly use a staffed and dedicated field comm. JMO

They need to get all the MERVs staffed also… they are not always staffed

 

[Lebby]

They need to get all the MERVs staffed also… they are not always staffed

As of a few years ago, they are all cross staffed with no specialty unit having a full time operator.

 

[Bulldog]

I was just asking that question last week. The communications needs of managing a mass casualty incident in a large urban area are complex and require a lot of coordination beyond the rear of a supervisor vehicle or a command table. Tracking all inbound ambulances, staging resources, polling hospitals to ascertain how many reds, yellow and green they can each take, tracking which units are transporting to which hospitals. Communicating with command staff, medical director, hospitals via landlines, coordination of EMS specialty units etc. I think NYC EMS could certainly use a staffed and dedicated field comm. JMO

While I certainly agree about the communication needs of such incidents I don't think EMS needs their own dedicated field comm unit. The FDNY comm units have all the EMS frequencies in them and coordinate both the fire and EMS at major incidents. Any major mass casually incident is going to have a significant FDNY and EMS presence anyway and I both need to be coordinated together. Doing all the coordination from 1 comm unit is probably the best thing.