Fire chief talks about impact Kettering Health cyberattack has on local departments
Kettering Health's emergency rooms are starting to accept patients from first responders, but some ambulances are still being diverted to other hospitals.
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As reported on News Center 7 at 6:00, this comes more than 24 hours after the hospital network experienced a cybersecurity attack.
>>RELATED: Kettering Health, hospital association provides update on cybersecurity attack
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It's been a busy day and a half for EMS runs in Springfield.
>>RELATED: Patients, families left without answers after Kettering Health cyberattack
'We've had 127 calls in the last 32 hours,' Springfield Fire Division Chief Jacob King said.
Springfield Fire had to reroute some patients from Kettering Health hospitals.
'We had patients that would have typically gone to Kettering that we took to Springfield Regional Hospital,' King said.
The Greater Dayton Area Hospital Association (GDAHA) said that Kettering Health was diverting medics from local fire departments on Tuesday.
The association said its hospitals and local fire departments always use and share a real-time notification system to update their emergency department status.
'This is just a little different because it is tied to one whole system,' GDAHA President and CEO Sarah Hackenbracht said.
On Wednesday, GDAHA said diversions have decreased, but some Kettering Health emergency rooms still have limited capacity for certain procedures.
King said Springfield fire crews normally take 80% of their patients to Springfield Regional Medical Center.
They've been using that real-time notification system for the last day and a half, especially to know what to do with the patients they'd normally take to a Kettering facility.
'About 20% of our call volume transports, we transport to Kettering Health here in the city of Springfield. So, we've just been working hand-in-hand with them to determine what patients will they be able to accept and which ones that we just transfer to Springfield Regional,' King said.
News Center 7's John Bedell reached out to Kettering Health on Wednesday to ask when elective surgeries will resume.
Kettering Health provided the following update to News Center 7.
'Teams across Kettering Health are working diligently around the clock to restore our systems in the aftermath of unauthorized access that caused a system-wide technology outage.
At this time, procedures are being evaluated on a case-by-case basis based upon collaborative decision-making between care teams, with safety as our highest priority.
Additionally, if our care teams have patients' contact information, they will contact patients by phone about rescheduling procedures. While we recognize this process has not been seamless, and we ask for everyone's patience while we continue to work through this issue.
We understand our patients' concerns for their privacy and information security. We have no evidence that personal cell phone apps, like MyChart, or the information in them have been compromised. Additionally, Kettering Health will never reach out to staff or patients via social media.
We are grateful to our remarkable providers and staff who are continuing their work despite these challenges and to our community partners helping us make meaningful progress through our current situation."
Kettering Health spokesperson
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