Syracuse, NY -- When Upstate University Hospital was notified of a serious bus crash, the hospital went into incident command mode, hospital spokesman Darryl Geddes said. Medical staff was organized to expect multiple injuries. Administrators, social workers and interpreters were called in, and staff already on duty were alerted, Geddes said. The interpreters were called because the hospital was...
Syracuse, NY -- When Upstate University Hospital was notified of a serious bus crash, the hospital went into incident command mode, hospital spokesman Darryl Geddes said.
Medical staff was organized to expect multiple injuries. Administrators, social workers and interpreters were called in, and staff already on duty were alerted, Geddes said. The interpreters were called because the hospital was told there were multiple foreign nationals possibly among the injured.
The hospital’s rehab gymnasium was turned into a site to deal with minor injuries, Geddes said.
The first patient arrived by ambulance at 2:49 a.m. When it was over, 15 passengers were taken to the hospital, Geddes said. Four were admitted, and one of those is in critical condition, Geddes said.
Eight patients were brought to the hospital as a group on a Centro bus, Geddes said. The rest were brought by ambulance.
The American Red Cross also was called to the hospital to help with getting those treated and released situated for the rest of the night, Geddes said. “Most are not from Syracuse and they don’t have a family member to be released to,” he said.
The Red Cross took care of getting those who were treated and released to the Syracuse hotel where the passengers are being housed. It all went fairly smoothly, Geddes said. “These are the things a trauma center trains for and drills for,” Geddes said.
Even though the emergency room was having a normally busy Friday night, the hospital quickly was able to handle the injured, he said. “I don’t think people in the waiting room would know what’s going on,” Geddes said.
