Bellmore-Merrick EMS has been very busy answering calls and lending a helping hand in response to Hurricane Sandy.
Since Sunday at 11 p.m., an Emergency Operation Center (EOS) was established at their headquarters (corner of Grand Avenue and Newbridge Road in Bellmore). They’ve been on call 24 hours per day since then.
“We’ve sent crews to help throughout multiple areas in Nassau County, including evacuations in Hewlett and Long Beach during the disaster,” Assistant Chief Scott Resnik said. “We’ve also been on availability alert with FEMA and OEM.”
Locally, Bellmore-Merrick EMS has responded to 12 alarms over the past 2 ½ days in which people needed to be transported to local hospitals, ranging from severe lacerations to cardiac-related issues, a couple of which were critical. Others that require oxygen required assistance because the lack of power cut off their access to the oxygen they needed.
There was also the issue of access, which was tough for Bellmore-Merrick EMS.
“Not having the high-axle vehicles that the fire services have made it tough for us to get to patients,” Resnik said.
The command center is expected to remain open throughout the weekend, which is when the situation will be reassessed. Chief Christopher Benes and Resnik are running the command center, while Lieutenant Claudette Heide has been the officer in charge.
All of the workers at Bellmore-Merrick EMS are volunteers. If you have an emergency, and you’d like the Bellmore-Merrick EMS to respond, you can call their emergency line at 516-742-3300.
What do you think of the work Bellmore-Merrick EMS has done during the storm? Tell us about it in the comments below.
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Hurricane Sandy Sends Bellmore-Merrick EMS Into Action
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Michael Ganci (Editor) May 20, 2013 at 12:37 am
We just posted. I was at the scene. Hope this helps! MG…Read More http://merrick.patch.com/groups/breaking-news/p/woman-struck-by-train-at-merrick-lirr-station
Zach T May 17, 2013 at 07:20 pm
The School board is a bunch of morons if they want to remove this designation! There were 0 problems…Read More like this when Malucci was in office, this new superintendent is a waste of space, money, and cares more about his own paycheck then our kids! Between school security, and now this, I motion that we get rid of that skell!
Dr. Kim Lurie May 16, 2013 at 12:54 pm
Bless you, Anthony. And though I know ultimately the "Judge" will have to be held…Read More accountable by a higher authority...those of us who do this work, have not forgotten nor will we allow the system to forget what her role in this travesity was.
Anthony Merlo May 16, 2013 at 10:24 am
Thank you for this wonderful article on a good man pushed to the brink. I appriciate the fact this…Read More came form the heart and did not hold back. As Sacristan at Cure of Ars, I had the pleasure of working with Dr. Rich (as I called him) for some time. He was a man of faith and a pleasure to see. Always with a smile and kind word, you would never know what was going on the way he acted. This was a wonderful and insightful article. It is heartbreaking to think that where there was once love between 2 people, things got to the point where one persons life was destroyed by those who could and did for no apparent reason other than having the ability to do so. God will have mercy on Dr. Rich and the ex-wife and "Judge" should pray for the same given their actions.