MEDIA ADVISORY:

FDNY TO CONDUCT OPERATION BIO-POD
TOMORROW IN STATEN ISLAND

The New York City Fire Department tomorrow will be conducting an exercise specifically designed to evaluate the Department’s ability to administer vaccinations on a citywide level to all its members in the case of a biological or chemical attack. The daylong field exercise will be conducted live throughout the borough of Staten Island, where an estimated 700-800 on-duty members will be rotated through the Staten Island EMS Borough Command / EMS Battalion 22 at Seaview Hospital, and offered the recommended, but non-mandatory, influenza (flu) vaccine. Fire and EMS units will be directed to the point of distribution (POD) throughout the course of the day in order to ensure that fire suppression, emergency medical care and emergency response are maintained. The exercise is part of the FDNY’s continuing initiative in planning its response to CBRNE (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and Explosive) incidents. One of the FDNY’s newly trained Incident Management Teams (IMT) will be activated to manage the exercise.

Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta will be holding a press briefing during the exercise.

Contact: Francis X. Gribbon / Mike Loughran (FDNY) (718) 999-2056