EMS Chief Thrown Overboard in Blizzard's Wake

Abdo Nahmod (FDNY).

We've likely seen the last of the blizzard deaths, but blame game is just beginning. Last night Chief John Peruggia, head of the Emergency Medical Services Command, was sacked by Fire Commissioner Salvatore Cassano. Peruggia, who will stay on with the FDNY in a "new role to be determined," is being replaced by 25-year FDNY veteran Abdo Nahmod.

In a statement introducing Nahmod, Cassano said that "despite Chief Peruggia’s dedicated service to this Department, I felt new leadership was needed at this time. Last week’s blizzard presented tremendous challenges for the Department that are currently being addressed with an eye toward improving performance going forward.”

Peruggia is the first (but likely not the last) to be pushed out over the slow storm response. And the backlog of 911 calls isn't the only mark against him. He was allegedly already in trouble for taking a trip funded by a defibrillator vendor used by the city.

His replacement was raised in Beirut, Lebanon, before coming to the States in 1969. Once here he worked in a volunteer ambulance company for six years before joining the EMS as an EMT in 1986. And he has spent the past three years as Deputy Assistant Chief overseeing Emergency Medical Dispatch—so at least he's no Cathie Black.

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By Garth Johnston in News on January 6, 2011 11:04 AM

Comments [rss]

just saying

What happened to the "Dark Lord of the Storm", Deputy Mayor, Stephen Goldsmith? He was HANDPICKED by Mayor Bloomberg himself to handle all city operations including sanitation, but Goldsmith (as well as Bloomberg) didn't even bother to attend the big emergency meeting on the day after the blizzard. The snow debacle was a systemic failure of the Bloomberg administration from the top down. There was an obvious lack of leadership and direction at the very top when it was most needed.

GalBklyn

Yep - EMS Chief is Fall Guy of the Day. Goldsmith? Undercover (DC perhaps... or Indiana?) and silent throughout. Interesting to see if he has the guts to show up at Monday's hearings...

Mayor of Accountability in action.

tbs222

The city has a huge contingent of volunteer and private ambulances that are not part of the 911 system that could have been called upon to provide additional support during the storm, but to my knowledge, were not.

While, sure, some of these ambulances would also have been stuck in the snow, it certainly could have helped manage the call volume.

As recently as the H1N1 flu panic in 2009, the city added private ambulance units to assist with the expanded call volume, so this is not without precedent.

The fact that the mutual aid came in from New Jersey on Mondau *night* is seems to be too little too late.

So, I don't know if this part of the reason that Peruggia was removed from his post, but it is certainly fodder for discussion.

darkdrseuss

I'm sorry but I disagree. A colleague of mine put it well "We had 600 ambulances stuck in the snow. If we had 3000 ambulances that night, we would have had 3000 ambulances stuck in the snow". Mutual aide is necessary for the call volume we had, but useless till those roads were somewhat plowed. Still haven't seen heads rolling on the Sanitation side of this. Still, I don't mind the change, hopefully EMS will be less of a volatile division now.

Rocknrope

I don't think it's a question of whether there were enough ambulances on hand, it's the fact that they all would not have been able to make it to their destination. It's the equivalent of blaming someone for not reaching them in time, when the bridge they need to cross has been blown out.

etypical

Is there a glaringly obvious reason as to why emergency vehicles would not be equipped with their own snow removal devices to ensure public safety and cut down on wait time in this sort of weather?

Spirit of 76

Ambulances don't have the engine torque, drivetrain or tires necessary to push plow blades.

ktinnyc

Maybe we should train DoS to be paramedics so they could drive the plows directly to the emergencies during snowstorms. You have a big future as a consultant.

Rocknrope

Because it's the job of the Department of Sanitation. It's ridiculous to blame EMS for what happened during the blizzard when the DoS clearly didn't do its job.

darkdrseuss

As a person that does not like Perrugia and his crusade of trying to eliminate hospital ambulances from the city, I'm glad for the change. But, seriously stupid trying to pin anything on EMS during the blizzard. Just speak the truth, the guy had a sprinkle of corruption going on, and he needed to go.

Just Me

Too bad we can't fire the mayor or deputy mayors.

fosiacat

ABDO NAHMOD?????? and so the terrorist inside-job take-over begins!

how they fire the fucking dept. of sanitation (all 750 that called in sick, and management), that's the real problem.