Baltimore City Release:
Mayor Rawlings-Blake Announces Ambulance Strike Force Deployment to New Jersey
Baltimore to send Fire Department Advance Life Support (ALS) medics to assist storm victims.
BALTIMORE, MD. (October 31, 2012) – Today, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake announced that Baltimore is sending two Baltimore City Fire Department Advance Life Support (ALS) medics and one team supervisor to New Jersey to assist with storm recovery efforts. The Baltimore City-led team is overseeing a total of five medic units from Maryland. The deployment is part of a larger state effort to help New Jersey. Baltimore City medic units are expect to be deployed beginning at 4:00 am, Thursday, November 1, staging at the Public Safety Training Academy, 3500 W. Northern Parkway. Baltimore’s Strike Force team of Advance Life Support (ALS) medics will be deployed to New Jersey to assist local and additional deployed teams in mass patient movement. The units will also provide backfill and support to local New Jersey units for 911 response calls.“Yesterday, I joined a conference call with President Obama, Governor O’Malley, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, and many other officials to discuss storm recovery efforts on the East Coast. Following a damage assessment here in Baltimore, I pledged to work with Governor O’Malley and other Maryland jurisdictions to help the communities most devastated by Hurricane Sandy,” Mayor Rawlings-Blake said. “The people of Baltimore stand with the people of New Jersey and New York who have suffered great damage and tragedy as a result of this historic storm.”The formal request for Baltimore units was made, according to the EMAC (Emergency Management Assistance Compact) with Governor Martin O’Malley, through the Maryland Emergency Management Agency (MEMA). The Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems (MIEMSS) is the lead agency for the deployment. “I’m proud that our Baltimore City Fire Department Advance Life Support medics will be part of the larger, statewide effort to assist storm victims,” Mayor Rawlings-Blake continued. “I want to thank Governor O’Malley for quickly mobilizing resources from throughout Maryland, and I want to thank our first responders for stepping up to help our neighbors to the north.” “I can only imagine the challenges and devastation that New Jersey and New York confront in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, and that’s why we’re compelled to send immediate assistance in the form of a Medical Strike Team to support their recovery efforts,” Baltimore City Fire Chief James Clack said. “I’m familiar with the devastation of hurricanes, so I empathize with what they’re going through, and we want to assist as our neighbors as much as possible.” |
