Stationed FEMA ambulances signed off from the Genesee County 9-1-1 airwaves at about 8:00a.m. on Friday morning with much thanks from dispatchers and local EMS crews.
“Their deployment has ended per New York State,” says Tim Yaeger, Genesee County Emergency Management Services Coordinator.
Yaeger says the FEMA crews answered 159 emergency calls during their time in Genesee County, which was about one month. The FEMA ambulance crews were made available to local counties in New York after the last surge of COVID-19 cases during the first part of the year.
Total ambulance calls in Genesee County since the Pandemic started from March of 2020-December of 2021 are 10,610 (includes all Advanced EMT, Advanced Life Support, Basic Life Support, Mutual Aid, EMS/non-emergency, Pandemic ALS and Pandemic BLS calls). In April of 2020, there was a low of 341 calls and call volume steadily increased in the months leading up to January of 2022, which reached a high of 604 calls.
The one FEMA Advanced Life Support ambulance was available 24/7 and the one FEMA Basic Life Support Ambulance was available from 8:00a.m. to 8:00p.m. The two ambulances started assisting with 9-1-1 calls on February 4th. They assisted as back up for Mercy Ambulance and LeRoy Ambulance services.
The FEMA contracted ambulances had a base in Batavia since mid-December. Genesee County made their request to New York State on January 31st and the request for use of the FEMA contracted ambulances was approved that day.
“The state originally brought them to assist with inter-facility transports between hospitals, once that demand decreased, they allowed them to be used in the 9-1-1 system. There was no cost for their services to the county,” says Yaeger.
LINKS to CDC, NYS and Genesee/Orleans Health Dept.-COVID Data
U.S. COVID-19 Community Levels by County Map | CDC
Positive Tests Over Time, by Region and County | Department of Health (ny.gov)