Federal COVID manpower helping in Hazard area – Kentucky Today

By TOM LATEK, Kentucky Today

FRANKFORT, Ky. (KT) Gov. Andy Beshear has announced a National Disaster Medical System, or NDMS team, he requested has arrived at Appalachian Regional Healthcare in Hazard, where they will stay for two weeks.

The governor said he has also requested a 30-day extension of the five FEMA Emergency Medical Services strike teams who have been transferring and transporting COVID-19 patients throughout Kentucky.

These NDMS and FEMA teams have played a crucial role assisting our health care heroes as they fight the worst COVID-19 surge we have ever faced, the governor stated. We need continued federal assistance to save Kentucky lives, both from COVID and from other serious illnesses and injuries that require emergency medical treatment.

The NDMS teams typically include a medical officer, physician assistant, nurse practitioner, supply officer, respiratory therapist, four registered nurses and three paramedics. The team members can help by opening more available beds that had not been used due to lack of staffing. They can also support emergency department operations, increasing the ability of the facility to treat more patients. Another NDMS team arrived at St. Claire Regional Medical Center in Morehead Sept. 4.

The FEMA EMS strike teams, which are being managed by the Kentucky Board of Emergency Medical Services through American Medical Response, have made a noticeable impact on local health care facilities since their arrival in Kentucky on Aug. 27, according to the governors office, by easing the strain on Kentucky hospitals and giving local EMS resources the ability to provide non-COVID-related 911 services to their communities. The extension also will facilitate patient transports from rural regions to larger urban hospitals that have greater bed availability.

Without an extension, authorization for three strike teams will expire on Sept. 25, with the remaining two teams expiring three days later.

Each FEMA EMS strike team is comprised of five advanced life support ambulances, and each ambulance is staffed with one paramedic and one emergency medical technician. The strike teams have assisted regionally in Somerset, Louisville, Owensboro, Lexington and Corbin. They are centrally dispatched and can respond to any area in the state.

In addition, Beshear has activated more than 400 Kentucky National Guard members, who are performing support services at over two dozen hospitals. This is the largest deployment of the National Guard for a health care emergency in state history.

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Federal COVID manpower helping in Hazard area - Kentucky Today