the staff of the Ridgewood blog
East Rutherford NJ, John Grembowiec, Advisory Board Chairman of the New Jersey EMS Task Force, and Dr. Terry Clancy, acting director of the New Jersey Department of Health, Office of Emergency Medical Services, and Mike Bascom, Team Leader of the NJ EMS Task Force, Monday welcomed a new deployment of out-of-state EMS teams to New Jersey. Units as far away as Los Angeles and Palm Springs California were on location.
“You are making a difference,” Grembowiec, told the EMTs and paramedics who were there before being deployed to the hardest hit areas of the state.
Over the weekend, 100 ambulances and 450 EMTs and paramedics began arriving at MetLife Stadium. They are part of a second wave of EMS providers who have been deployed by FEMA to New Jersey to assist local EMS organizations deal with the increased call volume due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Earlier this month, FEMA deployed 75 ambulances and providers to New Jersey earlier this month.
“This is just incredible,” Grembowiec said. “New Jersey’s EMS crews have been working around the clock for weeks in the fight against COVID-19. We all appreciate the help Dr. Clancy and Department of Health Commissioner Christopher Neuwirth have provided in securing this second deployment. These out-of-state providers will help greatly help reduce the stress – and strain – on our local EMS teams.”
“We can’t thank FEMA and American Medical Response enough for their help,” said Bascom. “We called and they responded. We have crews from such places as Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Virginia, Indiana, California and elsewhere. We will never forget their efforts in helping us.”
The NJEMSTF is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that represents more than 200 career and volunteer EMS providers throughout the state, who are trained to respond to large-scale man-made and natural disasters as well as pre-planned events,
