Rescue Squad Joins Major Disaster Drill at Newark Airport

On Saturday, October 15, 2011, the South Orange Rescue Squad participated in a major disaster drill at Newark Airport. Responding to a practice scenario simulating the crashing of a letliner with passengers into an occupied hanger, fire fighters from the Newark, Elizabeth, and Newark Airport Fire Departments evacuated victims from the plane and the building and handed them over to waiting teams of EMTs for treatment and transport to a simulated field hospital. Approximately one hundred ambulances and crews participated, transporting more than one hundred fifty "victims". Representing the Rescue Squad were Julio Rivera, Dan Cohen, and Don Boyle.

This was the latest in a recent series of major incident drills that the South Orange Rescue Squad has participated in at Seton Hall University, Newark Penn Station, and previously at Newark airport. In addition to giving practical experience to our members, the drills strengthen our working relationship with the Essex County Office of Emergency Management and the New Jersey state EMS Task Force.