SYOSSET, NY -- While Hurricane Earl is not expected to have a major impact in the New York region, the North Shore-LIJ Health System announced today that, as a precautionary measure, it has mobilized its Emergency Operations Center to assist local hospitals, nursing homes, and local law enforcement, health and emergency management agencies during Friday’s storm.

North Shore-LIJ’s Emergency Operations Center is based at the health system’s Center for Emergency Medical Services in Syosset, NY, the largest hospital-based emergency services operation in the Eastern US, with more than 60 ambulances and other vehicles, and more than 300 paramedics and emergency medical personnel.

Because of the emergency preparedness infrastructure it has in place and its standing as the area’s largest healthcare provider, North Shore-LIJ has been designated by the New York State Department of Health as a Regional Resource Center for all area hospitals in planning and preparing a response to any public health emergency on Long Island, including hurricanes and other natural disasters.

“We stand ready to assist any hospital, nursing home or other health facility across the region that may need our help during the storm,” said James Romagnoli, director of security and support systems at North Shore-LIJ. “We’re also ready to assist local emergency management agencies and our Department of Health in the event that patients need to be relocated from hospitals and healthcare facilities that may be affected by the storm.”

The North Shore-LIJ Health System’s 15 hospitals and other facilities have in place an “incident command” structure, which is managed by the health system’s Emergency Operations Command Center in Syosset, NY. During an emergency, the incident command structure is activated to mitigate any problems in a timely fashion. Besides transportation, among the other resources offered by North Shore-LIJ are: satellite phones that can be used when land-line and cell phone service is disrupted, portable air conditioners, portable ventilators, emergency generators and flood remediation equipment.

North Shore-LIJ’s Emergency Operations Center also subscribes to its own weather service so it can pinpoint storm patterns related to heavy rains, winds, snow and other conditions that might affect hospital operations and staffing. “The current track of Hurricane Earl indicates that the worst of the weather will be on the eastern end of Long Island, but the slightest shift west can drastically change the current forecast. We are currently viewing and tracking several different models in the Operations Center,” said Mr. Romagnoli.

North Shore-LIJ's emergency preparedness efforts have been recognized as a national model by The Joint Commission, which documented North Shore-LIJ's step-by-step disaster response plans in a video distributed to healthcare organizations nationwide as a "how-to" for handling an accident or terrorist act involving a weapon of mass destruction.

North Shore-LIJ’s approach to emergency management is based on this premise: no organization can plan for every potential crisis, so it must be prepared for anything, including incidents of bioterrorism or other weapons of mass destruction, or an outbreak of a contagious disease such as the H1N1 virus.
North Shore-LIJ’s Emergency Operations Center will be operating throughout the duration of the storm.

Contact: Terry Lynam
W: 516-465-2640/2600
C: 516-316-2389
tlynam@nshs.edu