Boston Area Hospitals Put On Alert

Boston-area hospitals are working together and with emergency relief officials to determine what assistance they may provide in the wake of yesterday’s bombings.

Last night, New York hospitals were bracing for the casualties, which are expected to range in the thousands.

Boston hospitals, which are all coordinated by the Massachusetts Hospitals Association, say they do not know when or if they will be receiving patients from New York.

A Children’s Hospital official said that four nurses and two physicians on staff were ready to be sent to New York if needed, but that they had not yet received the order to send them on.

Brigham and Women’s Hospital did not expect patients last evening, nor did they expect them this morning.

A spokesperson for Massachusetts General Hospital also was unaware of any current plans to airlift victims to Boston.

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center was also not expecting any arrivals, though they have provided other support, according to Jerry Berger, Beth Israel Deaconess spokesperson.

“We’ve already sent doctors to New York upon request,” he said.

Both Beth Israel Deaconess and Brigham and Women’s reported that they cancelled all elective surgery scheduled for yesterday afternoon and evening.

Since all commercial planes are grounded, any transport would likely be via military planes.

Second Lieutenant André Kok, a spokesperson for Hanscom Air Force Base, said that the only confirmed planned flight was to take medical supplies, such as blood and plasma, from Massachusetts to a disaster area.

--Staff writer David H. Gellis can be reached at gellis@fas.harvard.edu. Staff writer Andrew J. Miller can be reached at amiller@fas.harvard.edu.