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When disaster strikes, a well-thought-out plan goes a long way in a successful deployment of emergency services.
"When the convoy rolled in, it was like the cavalry had arrived. It would make the hair on the back of your neck stand up," said Tom Blackwell, MD, an emergency medicine physician at Carolinas Medical Center, Charlotte, N.C. Blackwell headed up the mobile unit, Carolinas MED-1, which was deployed to Mississippi to help victims of Hurricane Katrina.
MED-1's convoy consisted of 20 vehicles, including two tractor trailers that comprised the mobile hospital and its support apparatus. The remaining vehicles were buses, police cars, and emergency vehicles carrying some 100 medical and security personnel. The convoy pulled into a debris-strewn Kmart parking lot in Waveland, Miss., in the late afternoon of Sept. 3, 2005. Although its arrival had been unannounced, more than 70 people, who had been camping out in the lot, stood and applauded.
Hurricane Katrina devastated Waveland, a town of about 7,100 people some 50 miles from New Orleans on the Gulf Coast. Most of the town's buildings were literally swept away by winds and storm surge. Most residents were left homeless. Hancock Medical Center, which was heavily damaged by Katrina, had to close for several weeks.
Soon after arriving, MED-i's staff drafted two men with front-end loaders from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to clear the lot of cars, trucks, and boats, which were then pushed into a perimeter to form a security barrier around the compound. Then, the staff cleaned up debris and set up shop. They set up 14 beds-13 regular beds and two operating room beds-in about 45 minutes. The rest of the equipment took six to eight hours to set up. They saw their first patient that night. During their seven-week stay, they treated a gamut of medical problems, including rashes, abscesses, infections, heat-related illnesses, orthopedic injuries, heart attacks, and traumas. In all, between Sept. 4 and Oct. 14, they provided on-site ambulatory and emergency medical care to more than 7,200 patients.
MED-1 was deployed at the request of the state of Mississippi through the North Carolina Office of Emergency Management and the North Carolina Office...