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EMS Leaders From Quad-State Region Meet to Plan for Future Large-Scale Events

KEARNY, NJ—EMS and fire officials from New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania gathered Jan. 16 for the first Regional EMS Task Force Preparedness Group meeting of the year. The group discussed current EMS issues, potential threats, and preliminary plans for massive soccer events in the region over the next two years.

EMS and fire officials from New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania gathered for the first Regional EMS Task Force Preparedness Group meeting of the year
Henry Coracans, state planner with New Jersey EMS Task Force; Fred Villani, FDNY EMS planning chief; Fran Guthrie, head of NJSEA EMS; and FBI Special Agent H. Gulick share at the Regional EMS Task Force Preparedness Group meeting.

“It’s important to know the people you’ll work with,” said meeting organizer Henry Cortacans, a state planner with the New Jersey EMS Task Force. “Having this meeting is super important. This group here has the best EMS professionals in the country. We have the most experience.” 

Some 61 professionals from the region, including the New York City Fire Department, the New Jersey EMS Task Force, NJ Transit, Yonkers (New York) Police Department, New York City Emergency Management, the FBI, NJSEA EMS, the Philadelphia Fire Department, and others, shared best practices and updated the group on preparedness plans in place now and what will need updating.

Collectively, the group includes the largest fleet of medical ambulance buses in the country, spread out through the region, with 20 alone in New Jersey. 

“The fleet is incredible, and a great tool for all of us to have,” said FDNY EMS Planning Chief Fred Villani, co-chair of the regional group. 

Six matches of the FIFA Club World Cup will be held in Philadelphia and MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, will host eight games and the final in 2026. 

Both events and affiliated fan fests and watch parties are expected to draw large crowds. Those events come on top of plans for 250th anniversary celebrations in New York and Philadelphia, including historic sailing ship events (OpSail), and Major League Baseball’s All-Star game in Philadelphia.

Fran Guthrie, who heads up the NJSEA EMS, which handles medical operations at MetLife, said mass casualty incident (MCI) planning is part of everything the facility does, including NFL games, concerts, sporting events, and festivals. On game day, the stadium holds 80,000 people and another 10,000 employees. 

Regional EMS Task Force Preparedness Group meeting
Devin Kerins, regional exercise officer, FEMA Region 2; H. Bucky Buchanan, NJ EMS task force planner; Michael McCabe, north leader, NJ EMS task force; and Mike Bascom, state leader, NJ EMS task force, present at the Regional EMS Task Force Preparedness Group meeting.

“We prepare for these large events,” Guthrie said. “We plan for each … We share plans with our partners. We always work in an MCI mode.”

FBI Special Agent H. Gulick shared ideas on potential threats to the region and how first responders could prepare. Devin Kerins, regional exercise officer for FEMA Region 2, let attendees know about training and exercise creation resources available through the agency and suggested pathways for preparing for the significant events ahead.

Regional attendees updated the group on the status of their Management of Assaltive Behavior (MAB) certifications and the capabilities of their rescue task force operations. They also discussed upcoming events in their regions that could involve multiple jurisdictions.

NJ EMS Task Force planner H. Bucky Buchanan said that the group will create sub-modules with specific disciplines in the future, which will make communications and planning more efficient. 

“We need to take a look at everything,” Cortacans told attendees.