CAMDEN, N.J. — The New Jersey EMS Task Force, the NJ County OEM EMS Coordinators and EMS providers from throughout the state are providing support in Camden for the expected extraordinary turnout for the World Meeting of Families and Festival of Families associated with the Pope’s visit to Philadelphia from September 25-28.
The NJ EMS Task Force provides planning and incident support along with logistical specialized resources to support the local lead agencies, University Hospital-Camden EMS and Virtua EMS. The cooperative efforts will provide personnel, equipment and command staff throughout the event.
“EMS planning for this event began months ago,” said NJ EMS Task Force state planner Debra L. Bell. “The NJ EMS Task Force was created to supply specialized resources and trained personnel to events on this scale.”
Camden is expecting tens of thousands of people to make the pilgrimage across the Ben Franklin Bridge into Philadelphia each day. EMS providers from New Jersey will provide trained staff at triage stations and a medical tent. Teams will provide staging and accountability, medical operations, logistics, communications and technology, safety, hazmat, finance, training, helibase, and a multi-agency coordination center at the Cooper University Hospital Medical Command Center (MCC).
“It will be a busy week, for sure,” Bell said. “The team at University Hospital – Camden, Camden EMS and Virtua EMS have been great partners on this projected and we’re honored to provide assistance. From an EMS standpoint, we are prepared.”
In addition to utilizing the NJ EMS Task Force’s specialized resources, along with advanced and basic life support units from EMS providers throughout the state, the multi-day operation will also incorporate 20 EMS bikes on loan from Gloucester County EMS, AtlantiCare EMS, and Collings Lakes Fire/EMS. Action Bikes of Woodbury, NJ has donated the servicing and safety checks of these bikes for the operation. Cardiac Science, in conjunction with Team Life of Colts Neck, N.J., is donating the use of 15 Powerheart G3 Pro AED units to the medical group for this event. Gen-El Safety is providing hazmat monitoring equipment, and Disaster Management Systems is providing a firefighter rehabilitation accountability kit.
Leading up to the event, the NJ EMS Task Force Core Planning Group and associated partners participated in weekly planning meetings with University Hospital – Camden EMS’ operations coordinator, Don Fisher, and Virtua EMS’ director of field operations, James Newman. Numerous training opportunities were offered to NJ EMS providers in addition to a deployment briefing and tabletop exercise. NJ EMS Task Force members will arrive in the region in the days leading up to the launch of the World Meeting of Families, with some not leaving until the Monday after.
Formed in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the New Jersey EMS Task Force is a team of career and volunteer EMS professionals that responds to natural and man-made disasters. The organization has been integral to the emergency responses for Superstorm Sandy, Hurricane Irene, wildfires, flooding in Bound Brook, a fire on the boardwalk in Seaside Heights, and the crash of US Airways Flight 1549 and has also provided EMS resources at such planned events as Super Bowl XLVIII, the NJ Marathon, the Warped Tour concerts, the NJ Balloon Festival and Bamboozle.
Since it was created, the NJ EMS Task Force has also been responsible for developing more than 100 site and incident specific major disaster plans covering issues such as hurricane and tropical storm response, influenza and infectious disease response, and rail and maritime incidents affecting stations, ports, bridges, and tunnels. Indeed, the organization’s planning and response to Superstorm Sandy has garnered international attention and is being implemented elsewhere.