GNYHA and the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) recently hosted a facilitated discussion with hospital and response agency stakeholders on the January 9 Bronx fire response—an event that resulted in more than 17 fatalities and 80 hospital transports.
Participants included all hospitals that received patients from the fire: BronxCare Health System; the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore; NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue, Harlem, Jacobi, and Lincoln; NewYork-Presbyterian/The Allen Hospital, Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, and Weill Cornell Medical Center; SBH Health System; and Westchester Medical Center.
The discussion also included representatives from all the involved response agencies: New York City Emergency Management, the New York City Fire Department Bureau of Emergency Medical Services, the New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner, DOHMH, and the New York City Police Department. Staff from the NYC Healthcare Coalition, New York State Department of Health, and health system emergency management offices joined as observers.
Participants were put into breakout groups to discuss six key aspects of the response: Pre-Hospital to Hospital Coordination and Notification; Emergency Department & Whole-of-Hospital Response; Managing Unidentified Patients (Living and Deceased); Data, Reporting, and Reconciliation; Pediatric Considerations; and Mental Health Considerations. Following the breakout sessions, the full group of nearly 80 participants discussed key takeaways and priorities for collective action.
DOHMH and GNYHA are compiling notes from the facilitated discussion. A summary document will include critical hospital response actions, and a list of collective priorities to improve responses to similar incidents in the future will be shared with the hospital community.
GNYHA thanks all participants, facilitators, and scribes for making the event a success.