EMS Grows In Brooklyn With New Battalion

By GINGER ADAMS OTIS

The Fire Department Nov. 8 unveiled a new Emergency Medical Service station built to service the Carroll Gardens section of Brooklyn.

FDNY Photo Unit MOVE-IN DAY: Mayor Bloomberg (far left) joined Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta, Chief of Department Salvatore Cassano, EMS Chief John Peruggia and other FDNY officials Nov. 8 in officially opening EMS Station 32. The new, state-of-the-art facility will service Cobble Hill and other areas in downtown Brooklyn.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta presided over the ceremonial ribbon-cutting, along with Department of Design and Construction Commissioner David J. Burney.

The DDC created the master design plans for the project and oversaw construction at the site.

Room for Seven

Newly-minted EMS Battalion 32 is located at 347 Bond St. The 8,150 square-foot facility can accommodate up to seven vehicles. FDNY officials said it will supply ambulance crews who serve the area with critical medical supplies and equipment.

The new battalion was converted from a one-story warehouse built in 1917. The reconfiguration took 15 months and cost the city $4.7 million. The EMS workers who are stationed there will answer calls in Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill and Brooklyn Heights.

DONALD FAETH: City finally making good.

Mayor Bloomberg hailed the facility as an example of the city's commitment to investing in the long-term health and safety of New Yorkers.

"This new facility will help ensure that our Paramedics and EMTs get the medical resources they need quickly, so that they can get back on the streets and get back to the business of savings lives," he said.

EMS Building Boom

Since the 1996 merger of the FDNY and EMS, the number of EMS facilities constructed by the city has nearly doubled. Five stations have been built and opened in the past five years alone. There are currently 30 EMS stations and two outposts located throughout the five boroughs.

Prior to EMS Station 32, the Carroll Gardens/Cobble Hill area of Brooklyn was serviced by units from EMS Station 31 at Cumberland Diagnostic & Treatment Center in downtown Brooklyn. EMS Station 32 is currently the largest stand-alone EMS facility that has been constructed since the merger. Donald Faeth, the vice president of District Council 37 Local 2507, which represents Emergency Medical Technicians and Paramedics, said the new facility was a very positive development.

"It speaks to the original Memorandum of Understanding from the merger that they were going to place battalion stations throughout the city," he commented. "Ten years ago, things were bad. There may have been 16 or 18. When I worked at Jacobi [Hospital] in The Bronx, I had to service Riverdale. It's on the opposite end of the borough. There has been a lot of improvement since then."

He added that any increase in EMS facilities would be a boon for EMS members, because they "get very frustrated when they arrive at calls and hear, 'What took you so long?'"

EMS Station 32 includes offices for a Captain and Lieutenant, a kitchen and dining room, conference room, fitness room, Advance Life Support and Basic Life Support supply rooms, a break area, storage for oxygen tanks and vehicle fluids and locker facilities and bathrooms for 100 employees.

It will act as a hub for four emergency medical units initially, including three Basic Life Support ambulances and one Advanced Life Support ambulance. The station holds a Resource Coordination Center that can oversee citywide EMS activity as a critical backup to the Fire Department Operations Center and a separate decontamination area where medics can safely clean and disinfect clothing and medical supplies.

Can Expand Scope

FDNY Chief of EMS Command John Peruggia said the facility had been designed with room to grow.

"The surrounding areas like Red Hook are transitioning very fast, and this new battalion has the capacity to absorb more equipment and personnel if needed," said Chief Peruggia. "It will also alleviate some crowding in the Cumberland facility, which the crews have outgrown."

He said EMS workers would be deployed at the new facility within the week pending a walk-through with union representatives.

Thomas Eppinger, president of DC 37 Local 3621, representing EMS officers, noted that the converted warehouse was the largest facility he'd ever seen. "It's great for the neighborhood, and it will bring some understanding about EMS into the community," he said. "Now we'll have the doors open and we can speak with residents, and it will be an all-around benefit."

Problems Elsewhere

He was less pleased with several existing stations around the city, notably Station 16 at Harlem Hospital, where old, rusty pipes have created unsanitary water conditions.

"But hopefully those older places will fall by the wayside as we continue to invest in these newer facilities that can accommodate modern equipment and the needs of our work force," Mr. Eppinger commented. "It's a great step forward."

All of the ambulances going into EMS Station 32 are equipped with the Automatic Vehicle Location system that uses Global Positioning Satellite technology. The FDNY installed the real-time tracking system on its fleet of ambulances in April. It allows them to monitor resources across the city and use mapping technology to coordinate multiple emergency responses.

Mayor Bloomberg at the opening ceremony noted that citywide average EMS response times to the most life-threatening calls between Aug. 1 and Oct. 28 had decreased 25 seconds when compared to a three-year average of the same period in 2002, 2003 and 2004.