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Hackensack Meridian Health Holds Full-Scale Disaster Exercise With New Jersey EMS Task Force
OLD BRIDGE, NJ—Hackensack Meridian Old Bridge Medical Center and the New Jersey EMS Task Force held a full-scale emergency response exercise Oct. 21–22, 2022. The exercise, which involved the creation of a 50-bed field hospital, was designed to ensure continuity of care and continued hospital operations in the event of a catastrophic hurricane.
“Our patients depend on us around the clock for high-quality, accessible, and compassionate health care, particularly in the aftermath of a natural disaster. Our strong relationships with EMS, law enforcement, and other first responders allow us to host drills and exercises that help ensure we’ll always be ready for our patients,” said Kenneth R. Haber, vice president for environmental health and safety, and team member of health and safety, for Hackensack Meridian Health.
“We are grateful for the collaboration, expertise, and dedication of the New Jersey EMS Task Force in conducting this joint exercise at our hospital. As we near the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Sandy, and deal with the aftermath of more recent Hurricanes Ida and Ian, it’s never been more important to conduct these exercises and drills,” said Patricia Carroll, president, chief hospital executive.
This year's drill utilized the statewide capabilities available to Hackensack Meridian Health if there were a catastrophic infrastructure failure at one of its facilities. This includes a 50-bed field hospital, medical ambulance buses and oxygen generation trucks displayed with continuous orientation sessions at Old Bridge Medical Center that covers hospitals, ambulatory, partner companies and long-term care.
“Exercises such as this provide us with the opportunity to test and demonstrate our capability to deploy and staff elements of our field hospital systems and to operate in a self-sufficient manner,” said Mike Bascom, state leader/nonprofit chairman of the NJ EMS Task Force. “As recently seen in Florida after Hurricane Ida, meeting medical needs during a disaster, without power, with limited access to supplies and food, and when local resources are taxed, is a critical element to rapid recovery for the community. The NJ EMS Task Force was developed to provide the state with the capability to support medical surge for hospitals and to assure that EMS has the resources necessary to respond to large-scale incidents, large planned events, and disasters.”
The NJ EMS Task Force is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that represents more than 250 career and volunteer EMS providers throughout the state who are trained in various disciplines of emergency medical services to respond to large-scale manmade and natural disasters as well as planned events.
Visit www.njemstf.org.
