EMS experiences 911 backlog during city's icy conditions

At least 660 calls were on hold at one point Sunday, according to sources, as frigid weather caused icy conditions throughout the five boroughs, leading to car and bus accidents, among other incidents related to the weather. The number of callers on hold dropped dramatically by the afternoon.

BY GINGER ADAMS OTIS , PETE DONOHUE , CAITLIN NOLAN

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Published: Sunday, January 18, 2015, 1:09 PM

Updated: Sunday, January 18, 2015, 4:45 PM

There was an 11-car pileup going east on the Cross Bronx Expressway heading towards the Throgs Neck Expressway in the Bronx on Sunday due to the icy conditions. The conditions caused EMS to experience a hefty backlog.

The city's Emergency Medical Services command experienced a severe backlog in answering 911 calls during the flash freeze that hit New York Sunday, with hundreds of callers waiting to report issues, the FDNY said.

From about 8 a.m. to 10 a.m., the highest volume of calls came in, with most callers reporting weather-related issues, FDNY Spokesman Jim Long said.

At its peak, approximately 600 calls were on hold, but by 3 p.m., less than 80 calls were on hold and all being held were of low priority, Long said.

From midnight to 3 p.m., EMS handled more than 3,700 medical calls. EMS will on average receive between 3,200 and 3,500 calls in a 24-hour period, Long said.

There was no increase in fire calls, Long said.

Traffic was backed up on the Cross Bronx Expressway throughout Sunday.

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ANDREW SAVULICH/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

“We began to prioritize the calls so that we could have our own resources available for the more serious calls,” Long said, noting any reports of heart attacks or people losing consciousness were high priority.

Callers reporting minor issues were told they would be called back, Long said. “We’re calling them back. We check in on a regular basis,” he said.

EMS tours were held over to put an additional 42 city ambulances on the road and 34 ambulances from Nassau County, Westchester, New Jersey and community-based emergency response organizations were working in the five boroughs as part of a mutual aid agreement, Long said.

Ten units from New Jersey were sent to the Bronx, while 10 units from Suffolk County and 10 units from Nassau County were sent to Queens, the two boroughs that had the highest level of demand for assistance.

Several buses were involved in accidents Sunday morning thanks to icy road conditions. EMS had a backlog of calls related to the weather.

“This is something we haven’t experienced in many years,” one source said. “We’ve done snow storms, we’ve done hurricanes, but this is sort of a different animal.”

The Department of Sanitation also extended its employees’ shifts to combat the icy conditions.

“DSNY had earlier assigned salt spreaders to be available on the midnight to 8 a.m. shift and they began salting as soon as icing started. DSNY ordered those workers to remain on shift on overtime while it called in additional workers to handle the city's 19,000 lane miles of roads,” DSNY Spokesman Vito Turso said.

“We continued to salt as temperatures began to climb and the precipitation changed to plain rain,” he continued. “The department has called in additional workers to its 4 p.m. to midnight shift to handle any refreezing situations that may occur.