Interesting. Based on what I was reading earlier, I was wanting to volunteer less and less for the BAA race...but if they really aren't going to use the commercial stuff, then hams still have a value. I read it as if they wanted to get rid of the hams altogether. Guess not.
Yes, Ambulance requests will be going through the commercial radios primarily as MEMA wants those transmissions to be encrypted and come directly to the Framingham bunker where they will handle ambulance dispatch. This also removes an extra hand off of information.
The BAA guy in charge came to the ham break-out training yesterday and gave us a little pep talk indicating we are valued and he really appreciates our service. He was "doing politics" so there's always a chance there was some BS in it, but I don't think so. Whenever the hams were mentioned in the various presentations it was in a tone like we were part of the team.
I have personally spoken to the lead BAA Medical guy (Sorry, can't think of his name) at other events and he definitely appreciates the work Hams do The commercial radio thing came down from above, beyond the BAA.