EMS and fire officials from New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania gathered on January 16, 2025, for the first Regional EMS Task Force Preparedness Group meeting of the new year. The group discussed current EMS issues, potential threats, and preliminary plans for massive soccer events in the region over the next two years.

“It’s important to know the people you’ll work with,” said meeting organizer Henry Cortacans, a state planner with the New Jersey EMS Task Force. “Having this meeting is super important. This group here has the best EMS professionals in the country. We have the most experience.”

Some 61 professionals from the region, including the FDNY, the NJ EMS Task Force, NJ Transit, Yonkers (NY) Police Department, New York City Emergency Management, the FBI, NJSEA EMS, the Philadelphia Fire Department, and others, shared best practices and updated the group on preparedness plans in place now and what will need updating. The meeting was held at the Hudson County Office of Emergency Management in Kearny, NJ

The group includes the largest fleet of Medical Ambulance Buses in the country, spread out through the region, with 20 alone in New Jersey.

 “The fleet [Medical Ambulance Bus] is incredible and a great tool for all of us to have,” said

FDNY EMS Planning Chief Fred Villani, a co-chair of the regional group.

The FIFA Club World Cup will be held in Philadelphia and MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ, which will also host the finals in 2026.

Both events and affiliated fan fests and watch parties are expected to draw large crowds. Those events come on top of plans for 250^th anniversary celebrations in New York and Philadelphia, including OpSail events and Major League Baseball’s All-Star game in Philadelphia.

Fran Guthrie, who heads up the NJSEA EMS, which handles medical operations at MetLife, said MCI planning is part of everything the facility does, including NFL games, concerts, sporting events, and festivals. On game day, the stadium holds 80,000 people and another 10,000 employees.

“We prepare for these large events,” Guthrie said. “We plan for each … We share plans with our partners. We always work in an MCI mode.”

FBI Special Agent H Gulick shared ideas on potential threats to the region and how first responders could prepare.  And, Devin Kerins, Regional Exercise Officer for FEMA Region 2, let attendees know about training and exercise creation resources available through the agency and suggested pathways for preparing for the significant events ahead.

Regional attendees updated the group on the status of their MABs and the capabilities of their rescue task force operations. They also discussed upcoming events in their regions that could involve multiple jurisdictions.

NJ EMS Task Force planner H. Bucky Buchanan said that the group will create sub-modules with specific disciplines in the future, which will make communications and planning more efficient.

“We need to take a look at everything,” Cortacans told attendees.