Results tagged “emergency”

Governor Paterson has declared a state of emergency over swine flu. The AP reports, "The executive order means that far more health care professionals -- including dentists -- will be permitted to administer vaccines with only brief training. The order is needed to suspend provisions of state law.State officials say the number of vaccine doses is also being increased. The federal government is ramping up availability of the vaccine, allowing the state to order twice as many doses as a week ago, a trend that's expected to continue." President Obama declared swine flu a "national emergency" a few days ago.

Aww: A six-year-old Brooklyn girl called 911 when her mother had a seizure in the middle of the night. Little Ciara Rogers told WCBS 2, "There was nobody else - she was on the floor, and [little brother] Luis was crying in the crib, and I was crying so much that my head was hurting. I took a deep breath and I called 9-1-1."

Awww—the FDNY made 5-year-old Tahlique Garay a "junior paramedic" for his informative—and life-saving—call to 911 when his pregnant mother passed out in their Queens home. You can listen to the 911 call here: Tahlique says, "My mommy, um, passed out a little bit," and was able to give his address, explain that she gets seizures, and unlock his door for medics. His mother, Jennifer Garay, has suffered from seizures before and explained that she prepped him just in case, "I didn't want to scare him but I had to tell him what to do if I got sick." By the time EMTs arrived, little Tahlique showed them where his mom was and explained her medical history; Jennifer Garay, who was taken to the hospital for severe dehydration, said, "He not only saved me, he saved his sister as well." And Tahlique said he'd teach his new sister and friends about 911, "Make sure to call 9-1-1 if you have an emergency or you are hurt."

We're getting preliminary reports about an "aircraft emergency" this morning at LaGuardia airport, where an incoming American Airlines flight was hit by a bird strike when coming in for a landing. No injuries are being reported, but paramedics were called to meet the plane at gate 10, apparently as a precaution. The pilot also reported a "hydraulic leak in the nose gear." The incident comes as the city moves to euthanize 2,000 geese within 5 miles of airports during their molting season, in an effort to prevent another crash like the one that befell Flight 1549.

Almost a year-and-a-half-long pilot program in four neighborhoods in Manhattan, the Bronx, Queens and Staten island, the city has announced that its message alert system, NotifyNYC, will now be rolled out citywide. Notify NYC services are available by email, text message and voice message to home, office and cellular telephones. According to the press release, starting on May 28, "Residents in all five boroughs will now be able to register multiple email addresses, text message accounts and phone numbers to receive Notify NYC advisories about events in up to five zip codes." Subscribers will get emergency alerts (hello, military plane that was supposed to fly over the Hudson), like AMBER Alerts and ones about natural disaster. Plus, you can sign up for Significant Event Notifications for less-severe situations (like brush fires, extended disruptions of mass transit services and major utility outages), Public Health Notifications and "non-emergency advisories about unscheduled suspensions of alternate side parking rules and public school closures and delays.

The number of homeless families with children entering New York City shelters has risen dramatically in recent months, hitting an all-time high in November, when 9,720 families were reported in the municipal shelter system. According to figures released by the Department of Homeless Services, 1,343 new families were accepted into the shelter system last month, a 43% increase over the 935 who moved into shelters in November 2007.

One Park Slope resident emailed us to describe a surprising scene unfolding this morning on 4th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues.

I went out for my coffee around 10am and there were 4 white undercover SUVs, an NYPD emergency truck and a large, black DEP/HAZMAT truck/mobile unit parked on my street! When I came back from my coffee run I saw a Fire Dept. SUV parked at the 6th Ave end of the block and a car from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner… A moment ago I saw a few passersby noticing the high volume of vehicles and they pulled out phones and cameras. Someone in the Medical examiner's car honked the horn and shouted out "no pictures." I asked the people from the ME's car what was going on, but they said they couldn't say anything and that I should call the 78th Precinct for more info…There's also an ambulance now.

On the one-year anniversary of the Virginia Tech shooting, NYU officials announced yesterday that the university is "exploring installing an unprecedented security system involving an electronic remote lockdown system that would shut down classrooms and entire buildings" in the event of an emergency.

Mayor Bloomberg and the New York City Office of Emergency Management have announced 10 winners in the contest to design temporary housing for the thousands of New Yorkers who might be displaced in the event of a catastrophe, like a direct hit from a Category 3 hurricane. The 117 submissions from 30 countries had to create quickly assembled housing for 38,000 families from Prospect Shore, a fictional neighborhood set along a mile of the New York City coastline.

Freaked out about the explosions in your neighborhood, only to find out via 311 that it's just fireworks? Or wondering about the fire around the corner? Well, the city actually does want you to know about what's going on in your neighborhoods and announced the pilot program launch of Notify NYC, which will deliver "emergency public information by email, text messages and reverse-911 alerts in four City community districts." The four districts are Lower Manhattan,...