Fire commish: Long Beach needs a local E.R.

With Long Beach Medical Center closed, it takes a Long Beach Fire Department ambulance an average of 12 to 20 minutes to transport someone to South Nassau Communities Hospital, up from the average three to five minutes it took to transport a patient to LBMC, Fire Commissioner Scott Kemins told residents.

With the barrier island accessible by three bridges, Kemins said that one of the main reasons the city is fighting for the reopening of an emergency department is the risk of delays.

“The other night we had an incident where [the Long Beach Bridge] got icy, and the bridge was shut down,” Kemins said. “If we had to take somebody to the hospital, we could have had an issue. Luckily, even with an accident on the bridge, nobody got hurt and we didn’t have an issue. But that is one of our main concerns and main reasons for fighting for a 911-receiving emergency room. We’re a barrier island, and we saw it during the storm … we need to be able to be self-sustainable and take care of our own.”

With many residents concerned about the lack of a local emergency department, Kemins — a lifelong Long Beach resident and 33-year member of the Long Beach Fire Department — attempted to reassure residents who raised safety concerns.

He also wanted to dispel rumors, and noted one particular case in which a child died after suffering a severe allergic reaction, a death that was attributed to LBMC’s closure. Kemins said the boy, who was not a Long Beach resident, died at Winthrop-University Hospital, and that the incident occurred in the Five Towns.

“For some reason, it was put on the city of Long Beach that the city allowed this to happen,” Kemins said. “It was an unfortunate situation, nobody wants to see a child die and it shouldn’t have happened. But it had nothing to do with the city and very honestly, probably even with Long Beach hospital — it happened in the Five Towns … there is a fully functional 911-receiving emergency room in the Five Towns.”

Nevertheless, Dr. Matthew Cohen, a local pediatrician, was on hand to speak about such pediatric emergencies, and provided the audience with tips and a demonstration on how to use EpiPens and other devices.