NYCHA Boosts Emergency Response with Field Coordinators Program

NYCHA’s Office of Emergency Management (OEM) created a permanent Emergency Field Coordinators program to improve the coordination of response to emergency incidents across the Authority. The initiative was tested in 2020 when OEM launched a six-month pilot program, hiring 12 on-call field coordinators who managed day-to-day communications between different responding agencies. After the pilot program concluded, OEM’s Director Rudy Murillo and Department Manager Melody Torres thoroughly reviewed the program, including the feedback from all 12 coordinators, to enhance its process and policies. A year after the pilot, NYCHA has made the program permanent, incorporating these improvements.

Some of the emergency incidents that field coordinators respond to require only remote coordination between the agencies or parties involved. In the event of a large-scale incident, field coordinators arrive at the location and assist the incident manager, who would be a property manager, police officer, firefighter, or NYC Emergency Management official, depending on the time or scale of the event.

“It’s good to have boots on the ground, eyes at the scene,” said OEM Field Response Coordinator Francisco Resto. “It makes the incident run smoother and more efficiently when you have a coordinating agency involved. We recruit people with field response and emergency communication experience.  In addition, we train each of them to our specific emergency management methods.” 

NYCHA’s field coordinators may be asked to assist on the scene in multiple ways – but their most important function is to maintain clear communications between first responders, NYCHA staff (including leadership), and residents. Field coordinators are equipped with communications devices and with an Incident Coordination and Response Vehicle, which allows them, if necessary, to coordinate incidents from inside the vehicle. 

In addition to its regular field coordinators program, OEM activates its Emergency Operations Center (EOC) during extreme weather events to keep NYCHA residents safe. OEM’s Director Rudy Murillo said that the EOC was activated recently during the cold snap.

“Like many other large-scale emergencies, during extreme cold days in January, the EOC coordinated with representatives from multiple departments to manage response efforts and resources needed to address any impact to NYCHA properties and residents efficiently,” said Mr. Murillo.

Photo Caption: (left to right) Damon Fields, Francisco Resto, Hlayma Shilleh, Myra Miller