NDMS helps Upstate University Hospital ER handle COVID cases

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — A group that describes itself as similar to a National Guard unit has been helping the emergency department at Upstate University Hospital treat an influx of COVID patients during the Omicron wave.

The federal National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) has been helping the Syracuse hospital as it faces more COVID-19 cases while short on staff from the firing of health-care workers who didn’t adhere to the state’s vaccine mandate.

The visit by the NDMS was announced Dec. 31 as part of Gov. Kathy Hochul’s Surge 2.0 plan, the hospital said. 

“At a state’s request, NDMS provides personnel, equipment, supplies, and a system of partner hospitals work together with state and local personnel to provide care when Americans need it most,” as described at the website of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness & Response of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.

“We get called up where there’s a need,” Timothy Tackett, team commander with the disaster medical-assistance team of the National Disaster Medical System, said as he began his remarks. 

Tackett, who is from Arkansas, spoke Jan.7 inside Upstate Medical University’s Institute for Human Performance. 

The NDMS has been at Upstate since Jan. 3. The 31-member team comprises physicians, pharmacists, advanced health-care practitioners, nurses, paramedics, and logistics staff. The team was slated to  work alongside Upstate staff through Jan. 14 to augment operations of the emergency department, the hospital said.

“We continue to do this mission across the country, but we’ve been really really happy with our integration and interface with the staff here. It’s been great,” Tackett said. “We’ve been well received and are able to jump right in and help with [the] case load in the emergency department.” 

Approaching the two-year mark since the COVID-19 pandemic began and facing this latest wave, Upstate University Hospital is entering into it with “a lot less staff that we had at the beginning of the pandemic,” Dr. William Paolo, chief of emergency medicine at Upstate, said to open his remarks. 

Fewer staff members means fewer people to monitor those recovering in hospital beds, so those who are sick end staying in the emergency department “a lot longer,” Paolo said. 

“So, a team like this comes in and what they’re able to do for us is free up our staff and free up space by providing direct patient care, opening beds, allowing us to offload ambulances faster, pull people out of the waiting room. They’ve been integrated into our waiting room such that they’re seeing people in our waiting room,” Paolo explained.

Those involved in the NDMS have a “passion” for the work as they must leave their homes, families, and regular jobs to help a medical facility in different location, Tackett said, noting he’s been involved with the NDMS since 1988. 

Before arriving in Syracuse, the team handled a similar role in Portland, Maine and has previously helped a hospital in his home state of Arkansas. 

 When asked if treating the number of cases in the Upstate University Hospital emergency department is sustainable after NDMS leaves, Tackett replied that he really doesn’t know but is hopeful. 

“If we look at the projections, it looks like we’re going to be leaving as the peak is over and we’re headed downhill. But it’s hard to predict,” he noted. 

Tackett went on to say that he’s been deployed more in the last two years than he has in the last 30 years but calls it “a way to serve.” A lot those involved in the NDMS have been part of the organization for 20 years.

“You’ve got to love it to do it,” he concluded.