Noga Ambulance Service
2615 Wilmington Rd.
New Castle, PA 16105
Contact: Alan Martino, Assistant Chief
Day Phone: (724) 652-6228 ext. 117

DISASTER PREPAREDNESS TRAINING TO BE HELD IN DARLINGTON, PA

Darlington, PA- Tornado’s, Hurricanes, Floods and Terrorist Attacks are becoming ever more prevalent in the United States. Unfortunately, they are often unpredictable. That is why the PA Region 4 EMS Strike Team is holding their annual training to offer the 10 county region surrounding the Pittsburgh area with superior Disaster Preparedness Response.

The PA Region 4 EMS Strike Team would like to invite the media to join them at their annual training on April 5 and 6, 2008, at the Darlington Township Volunteer Fire Department in Beaver County. This training will allow the members of the strike team to train with all of their resources and hone their skills to be ready in the event of a disaster. This strike team was deployed to the hurricanes that devastated the Gulf Coast in 2004. By responding to one of the worst natural disasters in U.S. history, this strike team has seen first hand the capabilities of Mother Nature.

The two-day training will be a stimulating, hands-on exercise that will allow the members to utilize all the resources available to them to prepare the equipment necessary to provide emergency medical assistance in a rapid fashion.

“The team is from all around the region. Getting us of all together to train is of great importance. Having a working knowledge of all of our equipment and a face to face working relationship makes the team work so much better on a deployment.”,” said Alan Martino, Assistant Chief at Noga EMS.

At the training, the strike team will be focusing on team and equipment readiness and familiarization, specifically, on survival gear, mass casualty incidents, and the specialty equipment gathered by each of the member departments. The survival gear training will assure that the team has the correct gear to be self sufficient when deployed to a ravaged area. In addition, the team has acquired equipment to set up a field hospital, emergency shelters, or other immediate housing needs as part of their mass casualty treatment capabilities. The team has the equipment needed to treat hundreds of people on an urgent basis.

The specialty equipment training will consist of Off-Road ATV’s training for relocating medical or communication equipment and transporting patients from desolate areas. The communication equipment allows the team to communicate with almost any agency in any area of the country.

The 10 EMS agencies that make up the team consist of the Emergency Medical Services Institute (EMSI), Noga EMS of Lawrence County, Medic Rescue of Beaver County, Clarion EMS of Clarion County, Fayette EMS of Fayette County, Mon Valley EMS of Westmoreland County, and Lower Kiski EMS of Armstrong County. As well as Baldwin, Ross West View and Elizabeth EMS all from Allegheny County.

County EMA officials from the region have been invited to tour the training area, equipment and personnel to be aware of the resources available to them during a disaster. This team is rapidly becoming a valuable asset in this region, as well as to other states that may experience natural disasters on a more regular basis. It quickly brings trained personnel and equipment to an area that needs immediate assistance. Longer duration emergencies such as sustained flooding or influenza breakouts are also a major capability of the PA Region 4 EMS Strike Team.

For more information, please contact Alan Martino, Assistant Chief of Noga Ambulance at (724) 652-6228 extension 117. The PA Region 4 EMS Strike Team would be honored if the media can attend this training on Saturday, April 5, from late morning to early afternoon.