The Department of Emergency Services consists of four divisions: Fire Training, Communications, Emergency Management (OEM), and Emergency Medical Services (EMS). The EMS office was formerly a part of the Westchester County Medical Center.
The EMS division works on facilitating communications between EMS agencies and the county, assists with mutual aid coordination during large-scale incidents, and is available to lend on-scene support with incident command when necessary.
To assist the local EMS agencies during a large-scale multi-patient event, a number of Mass Casualty Incident (MCI) trailers have been placed around the county for easy access if needed. These trailers contain basic medical equipment, including backboards, oxygen, radios, and other basic supplies that would normally be needed during a large incident involving multiple patients.
The division utilizes EMS Zone Coordinators to help disseminate and provide feedback for the 45 EMS agencies in the county. The EMS Zone Coordinators provide assistance at large scale medical events and work as a liaison with the EMS agencies in the county.
Together with the Westchester Regional EMS Council (WREMSCO), the EMS division coordinates educational offerings for EMS providers and disseminates training and educational announcements and associated information to agencies and providers. Programs include education on disaster response, child and elder abuse, scene safety, pediatric care, response to terrorism, respiratory protection, and weekly EMS grand rounds.
The WREMSCO handles the affairs of the Regional EMS Council and Medical Advisory Committee. The day-to-day management of the Westchester Regional EMS Council (WREMSCO) is directed by the EMS division. The WREMSCO handles the affairs of the Regional EMS Council and Medical Advisory Committee. These bodies regulate EMS systems, advanced life support treatment protocols, and manage the transfer or new applications for EMS operating territory in the county. The program agency is an integral part of the day-to-day operations of the Emergency Medical Services system in Westchester.
The EMS division manages the county's Public Access Defibrillation (PAD) and Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) training program. This program has coordinated the placement of over 120 automated external defibrillators in many county buildings, parks, and emergency services vehicles.
Our CPR/AED training initiative has resulted in having over 1100 county employees certified in CPR and in the use of Automated External Defibrillation. It is our goal with this program to help decrease the number of hospital cardiac arrests in the county.
The division works closely with the EMS, fire, and police agencies in the county with our fit testing machines loaner program. These machines are loaned to local emergency responders so they can properly test respirators and self-contained breathing masks on their personnel.
The Westchester County Department of Emergency Services endeavors to enhance the quality of life of every person in the county by providing comprehensive training, communication, and emergency response and management services for municipalities and emergency service agencies in order to minimize loss of life, property, and damage to the environment.