Health Department and Health Care Partners Test Readiness for Patient Surge Following a Simulated Chemical Hazard

The exercise required all acute care hospitals in New York City to prepare staff, share resources, and coordinate with one another to effectively care for patients in a surge reaching 20 percent above available hospital bed capacity.

Funding for the exercise comes from the U.S. Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response’s Hospital Preparedness Program.

March 4, 2024 — To prepare the city’s vast health care system for future public health emergencies, the NYC Health Department, health care networks, Greater New York Hospital Association, New York City Fire Department, and NYC Emergency Management conducted an exercise that tested their ability to provide effective care to patients even as demand for care exceeds available supply. The two-hour exercise scenario focused on a surge of patients with respiratory symptoms to hospital emergency departments after a fire from a nearby industrial plant created an airborne chemical hazard. Hospitals participating in this drill had to contend with simulated conditions that saw the number of patients reach 20 percent above their bed capacity – requiring facilities to share information and resources and coordinate across the system to manage the surge.

“To be ready for the next public health emergency, we must prepare and test our response regularly to answer the call, whatever the challenge, and whenever it arrives,” said Health Commissioner Dr. Ashwin Vasan. “Our efforts help prepare us to save New Yorkers’ lives. The Health Department, health care system partners, and other public agencies are committed to continuous improvement to support our city and one another to respond to citywide emergencies.”

“The core mission of emergency management is to respond to all types of emergencies and to ensure New Yorkers and the city that serves them are always prepared.,” said NYC Emergency Management Commissioner Zach Iscol. “By Conducting these exercises, it ensures that New York City is ready to answer the call when any emergency arises.”

“Mass casualty events have unfortunately become part of our world, and preparing for them is key to the success of our response,” said Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh. “We are grateful for exercises like this, to work with our agency partners and ensure our members are as trained and prepared as possible in the event of such an incident.”

“New York City hospitals are no strangers to operating during disasters, whether they are weather-related or public health emergencies,” said Greater New York Hospital Association President Kenneth E. Raske. “The COVID-19 pandemic is the most recent example of our hospitals demonstrating their ability and commitment to care for all patients under extremely difficult circumstances. These exercises reinforce the importance of preparedness to the continuum of care during emergencies, and we thank the NYC Health Department for their vision and leadership.”

The exercise tested the ability of health care facilities to:

• Activate their mass casualty plans in a short period of time;
• Work together as the NYC Health Care Coalition – a collaboration of health care and non-health care organizations — to notify all coalition members of the incident and facilitate information sharing between members;
• Assess personnel and resource needs and effectively meet these needs;
• Refine facilities’ operations to triage patients for treatment or transfer to specialty facilities; and,
• Coordinate effectively between facilities when clinical resources are strained or depleted.

The Health Department collaborated with health care system advisors to plan this exercise, which is consistent with federal Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP) guidance. It builds on lessons learned from recent emergency events that caused a surge of patients to the health care system, including the COVID-19 pandemic and the air quality event from Canadian wildfires in June 2023. The plans and decision-making tools informed by these and other emerging health threats were tested during the exercise.

The NYC Health Department led this exercise, which included participants from NYC Health + Hospitals, Montefiore Medical Center, New York-Presbyterian, Northwell Health, Maimonides Medical Center, Medisys Health Network, NYU Langone, One Brooklyn Health, Calvary Hospital, Richmond University Medical Center, Hospital for Special Surgery, Lenox Hill Hospital, State University of New York Downstate Hospital, Wyckoff Heights Medical Center, the Fire Department of New York, and NYC Emergency Management.

This medical response surge exercise is a required annual emergency exercise funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response through the Hospital Preparedness Program, which supports local public health and health care systems to develop essential capabilities to respond to emergencies.

The NYC Health Care Coalition is a collaboration of health care and non-health care partners that prepare the city’s health care system for emergencies. Members of the coalition include health care providers, provider associations, government and non-government planning partners, emergency response agencies, community-based organizations, and organizations from the private sector. For more information on the NYC Health Care Coalition, visit their website.

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MEDIA CONTACT: Patrick Gallahue / Rachel Vick
347-396-4177 / PressOffice@health.nyc.gov