Ted Williams Tunnel closed twice for organ transplant deliveries from Logan Airport
BOSTON – It's the kind of medical emergency that had officials concerned when they planned the eight-week-long closure of the Sumner Tunnel leading out of East Boston into the city. Twice on Thursday, human organs had to be rushed from Logan Airport to a major hospital downtown.
State Transportation officials and Massachusetts State Police shut down westbound traffic in the only alternate route available, the Ted Williams Tunnel, so emergency crews could get through. The closures were brief, but one of them was during the height of the morning rush hour commute at about 8:15 a.m.
At 11 a.m., the tunnel was closed again for a second organ transport.
"When the doctors need to do the surgery, they need to do the surgery. You know it's not like something we can wait until later on in the afternoon," said Massachusetts Highway Administrator Jonathan Gulliver. He said it will be the standard procedure when ambulances have to move through too.
It's a major concern for East Boston resident Stewart Landers, who sits on the State Public Health Council. "My biggest concern is that there be unnecessary deaths related to the slowness trying to reach one of the major teaching hospitals," he said.
The East Boston Neighborhood Health Center does have an emergency department, but it is not a Level 1 Trauma Center with resources, such as coverage by general surgeons and specialists, to treat the most critical cases, like those on the other side of the tunnels. "That's why the deployment of additional resources is really important," said Landers.
Gulliver said Thursday's tunnel adjustments showed, it can work. "Obviously tough timing, but our goal here is if somebody needs life-saving measures, that they get it," Gulliver said.
He said in this case, the organs successfully made it in time.
For up to date traffic conditions, visit the Mass 511 website.
For more information on the Sumner Tunnel shutdown and detours, click here.
