A Message from Keith Friedlander - Chairman of the Board of Trustees at Huntington Hospital

Dear Huntington Hospital Supporters,

Each day, our courageous doctors, nurses and health care providers are on the front lines - diagnosing, treating and preventing the spread of this outbreak. As a result of our expertise and experience, Huntington Hospital and Northwell Health continue to lead New York State’s pandemic response as documented Sunday night on CBS’s ‘60 Minutes (https://northwellhealth.org/2IEB-1KK95-9H4EZ6-10Z53Y-1/c.aspx).

Northwell critical care units are beginning to report that many patients are graduating from ventilators and ECMO and doing well. This should encourage us that COVID-19 requiring mechanical ventilation is a survivable condition and that we are making a difference.

Huntington Hospital was one of the first hospitals to use forward triaging to expand testing across our community. This allows for a swift evaluation of patients and rapid testing for those in need.

In just a few short days with the help of countless team members, we have more than doubled our ICU bed capacity and deployed specialized teams to provide critical care to this expanded population. As the number of patients we are treating for COVID-19 grows, Huntington Hospital is prepared to open alternate care locations as needed. At the same time, we are working around the clock to keep our units stocked with the essential items our caregivers need, while ensuring a reliable supply chain for future needs.

A growing number of people want to fundraise -- to support our caregivers, our hospitals, the communities we serve, and the remarkable research taking place at the Feinstein Institutes.

To support those efforts, we have established the Northwell Health COVID-19 Emergency Fund (https://northwellhealth.org/2IEB-1KK95-9H4EZ6-10Z53Z-1/c.aspx).

Our site allows for direct donations to our COVID-19 Emergency Fund, selecting Northwell Health, a specific hospital, or Research to benefit from their support.

We have also announced a Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Platform (https://northwellhealth.org/2IEB-1KK95-9H4EZ6-10Z540-1/c.aspx) that allows individuals to set up fundraisers for specific funding need areas under the umbrella of the Northwell Health Foundation. This is the most direct and impactful way to provide support at this time, and funds will go directly to the program, hospital, or area selected.

We are addressing today’s pressing pandemic needs - on the front lines and preparing for what’s next:

- Clinical trials for COVID-19 treatment and prevention, with significant implications for future pandemics. Go Here: https://northwellhealth.org/2IEB-1KK95-9H4EZ6-10Z541-1/c.aspx to read more.

- Behavioral health services for our courageous healthcare workers who put themselves at risk each day to protect us, and are now at risk for PTSD.

- Telemedicine programs to treat seniors and high-risk patients who are isolated due to the virus. We can stand together for every patient struggling with the psychosocial realities of what has become our temporary ‘new normal’.

We are well-equipped to take care of the people who need us, but we can’t fight this disease alone. On behalf of everyone who looks to us at this unprecedented time, we look to you. I hope you and your family are safe and well.

Please visit Northwell’s Coronavirus Digital Resource Center
(https://northwellhealth.org/2IEB-1KK95-9H4EZ6-10Z53D-1/c.aspx) often for helpful articles from our experts.

I will continue to keep you updated in the coming weeks. In the meantime stay home, stay safe and be well.

Sincerely,

Keith Friedlander

Chairman of the Board of Trustees
Huntington Hospital

Video Of The USNS Comfort Hospital Ship Arrives in NYC

The US Navy hospital ship arrived at the pandemic in New York City worsens.

With a crew and staff of 1,200, the ship will immediately add 1,000 beds to care for non-COVID-19 patients. This will permit local hospitals to be more responsive.

The ship left Norfolk Virginia on Saturday and arrived today.

Originally built as an oil tanker, it was later converted by the US Navy into a massive floating hospital. It was last seen in New York Harbor during the aftermath of September 11th.

The ship was escorted buy a combination of US Navy, and NYPD ships and helicopters.

Governor Cuomo said that this is certainly will help, but we will still need to more than double the existing capacity of about 50,000 beds in New York City in order to handle this crisis in the weeks to come.

Dramatic Rescue In The Chilly March Waters Of Cold Spring Harbor.

By Peter Sloggatt

psloggatt@longislandergroup.com

Cell phone video shows the final stretch of a Suffolk County cop’s dramatic rescue of a bayman in distress in Cold Spring Harbor Wednesday.

Video obtained by The Long Islander shows SCPD Officer Chris Jablonski swimming toward shore with a rope pulling a dinghy to which the bayman is clinging. In the final 25 yards or so, a Cold Spring Harbor Fire Department volunteer swims out with a rope and ties it to the front of the boat, and a chain of first responders on the boat ramp pulls them all in.

The operation came together quickly after several people called 911 to report a man in distress in Cold Spring Harbor Wednesday morning.

“We received a call at 8:47 a.m. – we received several calls actually – that a male had fallen in the water off of the boat ramp in Cold Spring Harbor,” SCPD Officer James Garside said. “He had his head bent back and was calling out.”

Fellow Second Precinct Officer Christopher Jablonski, who arrived on the scene in a separate cruiser, jumped into action.

“Officer Jablonski stripped to his undergarments, grabbed a nearby dinghy and started paddling out with just his hands,” Garside said.

When Jablonski reached the man, “he at first attempted to pull him into the boat, but was unable. He then told the man to hang on the back of the boat and he would paddle them in,” Garside said.

When that didn’t work, Jablonski jumped in the water and with Holm clinging to the back of the the boat towed the dinghy in.

“There was a small piece of rope at the front of the boat that would be used to tether it to a mooring. He grabbed the rope and pulled them in,” Garside said.

As they approached the boat ramp, a Cold Spring Harbor Fire Department rescuer dove in the water and swam to the dinghy with a rope which he tied to its front. On shore, a chain of rescue workers rapidly pulled it in for the final few yards.

Garside, a member of the Suffolk County Police Medical Crisis Action Team (MedCAT), and a paramedic from the Cold Spring Harbor Fire Department provided advanced life support.

While Holm had difficulty communicating, the officer was able to get his name, date of birth and some essentials, and ascertained that he is a bayman.

“He was in the water a long time. His lips were blue, his skin was blue,” a condition called central cyanosis, Garside said. The blue pallor indicates blood is not getting oxygenated.

Inside a Cold Spring Harbor Rescue ambulance, “Cold Spring Harbor medics gave him oxygen, took his blood pressure and vitals and started him on an IV,” Garside said. “We wrapped him in a warming blanket – called a bear hugger – and once we were in the hospital they gave him a warm IV to warm his blood.”

Holm, 43, was treated at Huntington Hospital. Jablonski was evaluated at the scene.

When it was over, “I asked [Officer Jablonski], did you realize how cold that water was?’” Garside said. “He said, ‘no, not until I was in it.’”