Governor Mills Announces Federal COVID-19 Ambulance Teams Coming to Eight Maine Hospitals

Press Release

Governor Janet Mills announced today that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has approved Maine's request for Federal Ambulance Teams on behalf of eight Maine hospitals. The Federal teams will assist Maine emergency medical services (EMS) crews with non-emergency transportation of patients among facilities to match patients with open beds and ensure they are treated in the facility that best meets their health care needs.

The ambulance teams are among a slate of initiatives President Biden announced today to help states confront the COVID-19 Omicron variant. The Mills Administration is awaiting further details from the Federal government about the ambulance teams, including when they are estimated to arrive in Maine, along with details about the other initiatives announced by the President today to support hospitals and to increase access to COVID-19 testing and vaccination.

While the Delta variant continues to drive the current sustained surge of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in Maine and the rest of New England, the more transmissible Omicron variant is now the dominant variant in new infections across the U.S., according to the U.S. CDC.

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