In Case Of Emergency: Officials Looking Into The Safety Of Your Commute

While some may have trepidations about riding the Long Island Railroad, they can now add one more to the list.

According to reports, the two busiest station on the LIRR (Jamaica and Penn Station) do not have emergency technician on hand; and now the LIRR commuters Council is taking as stand by trying to determine the impact on the health and safety of commuters.

And, Authority officials confirmed that in fact, unlike other busy stations such as Grand Central and six others throughout the big apple, there are no trained professionals readily available in case of emergency. In fact, if something “does” happen and someone “does” need immediate attention, MTA police or New York City officers are supposed to call 911 and wait until an EMS responds.

Furthermore, officials say that LIRR employees are trained in conducting CPR, and are “armed” with defibrillators (in case of emergency)…but have no other medical supplies.

However, this upcoming “investigation” will help determine the need for additional, specially trained medical personnel at Penn and Jamaica stations.

While the officers on duty may have some medical training, they do not have essentials such as oxygen tanks and they are unable to handle situations such as asthma, diabetes, and trauma.

Currently, an average of about 20 Metro-North employees working in grand Central as volunteer firefighters and EMTs are on call 24 hours a day. They respond to medical emergencies using an electric “ambulance” car, equipped with a full range of medical equipment.

The New York City Transit Authority noted having placed EMTs at several of their lines busiest stations such as Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn; Queens Plaza and Roosevelt Avenue in Queens; and 125 the Street/Lexington Avenue, Bowling Green and fifth Avenue/53rd Street in The City.