Bellmore-Merrick EMS donates equipment to New Jersey emergency field hospital

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The members of Bellmore-Merrick Emergency Medical Services loaned much-needed medical equipment to a temporary emergency hospital in New Jersey.

The temporary field medical station, or FMS, which is located at the New Jersey Convention and Exposition Center in Edison and houses 500 beds, is manned by the United States Army Reserve's Urban Augmentation Medical Task Force.

"Each FMS is supplied by FEMA and provides equipment for a 250-bed hospital, and we have two," said First Lieutenant Matthew Delaney, a physician assistant, in a news release. "But we realized we needed an ambulance stretcher."

Delaney, who hails from Florida but grew up on Long Island, reached out to his friends in the Bellmore-Merrick EMS — which he was a member of in the 1990s, according to Assistant Chief Scott Resnik. 

The request was approved "immediately," according to Resnik, and members of the EMS delivered two stretchers to the New Jersey facility within four hours on April 10. 

Bellmore-Merrick EMS's manual stretchers had been stored as backup when the department upgraded to newer ones that automatically load patients into ambulances, Resnik said.

"We told the task force to let us know whatever they need, we are happy to support them," said Paul Omichinski, a paramedic and vice president of the EMS.

"In this crisis, we'll do anything we can do," Resnik said. 

Colonel Matthew Bridges, the task force commander, was on hand to receive the equipment.

"We are very thankful to Bellmore-Merrick EMS for lending us these items," said Colonel Bridges, a general surgeon, in a release. "Their generous assistance helps support our mission, which is to assist the people of New Jersey in their fight against Covid-19."