SECAUCUS, N.J. – Twenty-five New Jersey National Guard Soldiers and Airmen answered the call for volunteers to help set up a field medical station at the Meadowlands Exposition Center, one of three in the state opening to ease pressure on hospitals responding to COVID-19.
The number of COVID-19 hospitalizations in the state has climbed steadily, underscoring the need for the state’s medical centers to expand their critical care capacity in anticipation of the peak
“We hit the ground and started to work with the Department of Health, who have just done an amazing job working with the State Police in getting this facility built and ready for patients,” said Col. Stephen Mckenzie, a physician assistant with the New Jersey Army National Guard and commander of Task Force Secaucus. “We’re going to help establish the first pods of 25 beds of patients to actually start operating in this facility.”
It took a joint effort with the New Jersey All Hazard Incident Management Team, technical support from the Department of Health and Human Services and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and support from the New Jersey National Guard to build the 250 beds and associated gear.
“We helped move cargo, set up beds, arranged medical equipment, and provided security at the entrances and loading docks,” said Spc. Michael Cavanagh, a Citizen-Soldier with Battery C, 3-112th Field Artillery.
“It makes me feel very proud to be helping the people who are suffering from this pandemic,” said Cavanagh. “I wear this uniform so I can help my fellow citizens.”
“The COVID pandemic is a war, and I’m proud as a National Guardsman to be a part of the defense of our nation,” said Mckenzie. “This is all about helping our citizens, helping our state, and getting us through this battle so we can come out at the end fit and well and ready to move forward with our lives.”
“This is the first of what will be at least three such field medical stations in our state, with Edison and Atlantic City to follow, which will expand our bed capacity by at least 1,000 beds in total,” said Gov. Phil Murphy. “We will need not only the capacity but the great flexibility these sites will afford our bricks and mortar hospitals in the coming weeks.”
The next field medical stations will include 500 beds in Central Jersey at the New Jersey Convention Center in Edison, and 250 beds in South Jersey at the Atlantic City Convention Center.
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