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By KASIA KOPEC kkopec@leader.net
Friday, March 21, 2003 Page: 8A
Though hundreds of area reservists have been called to active duty in
support of Operation Enduring Freedom, their absence has not significantly
reduced the region’s ability to respond in case of an emergency.
“Deployments are done in such a way so as to minimize the impact they’ll
have, but anytime you take a valuable member of a team away, it has an effect
on the team,” said the state’s Director of Homeland Security Keith Martin.
“That said, I have talked with the directors of PEMA, the state fire
chiefs association, the state police and a number of other agencies and all of
them assure me the deployments have not resulted in a reduction of their
ability to respond to either a natural disaster or a terrorist threat.”
A check of area hospitals shows two have had employees deployed, but
spokesmen for both said the shortages haven’t affected patient services.
Three Wilkes-Barre General Hospital employees have been called up: a
nuclear medicine technician, a registered nurse and a member of the hospital’s
maintenance staff, said spokesman Jim Schilling.
Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center has had two staff members
activated, one a doctor who operates a hospital-affiliated practice and the
other a registered nurse, said spokesman Mark Davis.
No one from Mercy Hospital has been activated.
Schilling said he thinks because most hospital employees are women, and
fewer women on average join the military, call-ups will not have a significant
impact on the region’s medical providers.
“I don’t think it’s having an impact on us as much as it would on a police
or fire department, where you would expect to find a lot of young men
working,” said Schilling.
But even police and fire departments haven’t been hard hit.
A survey of several of the area’s largest departments show only a handful
have had staff members called to active duty.
Wilkes-Barre police officer Joe Novak, an in-schools officer and member of
the 320th Military Police Battalion, is the only one on the city force to have
been called to active duty.
No troopers stationed at the state police barracks in Wyoming have been
called to active duty, but the Hazleton barracks is down two men.
“The one guy has been gone since just after Sept. 11 (2001) and the other
was called up about a year ago,” said Trooper John Dougherty, who added
supervisors have juggled schedules to cover shifts and no overtime has been
required as a result of the troopers’ absence.
Overtime has been utilized at the State Correctional Institution at Dallas,
where 14 corrections officers and two other employees have been called to
serve and at the State Correctional Institution at Retreat, where seven
employees have been called to active duty.
The Dallas prison’s public affairs officer George Matthews said the minimum
complement of guards is always maintained despite the shortages.
“We’re using overtime when we have to, but to be honest it hasn’t been a
big problem.”
Kasia Kopec, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 970-7436.