http://www.kctv5.com/news/28006289/detail.html
JOPLIN, Mo. -- The Federal Emergency Management Agency has detailed its continuing effort to assist with the cleanup and recovery in Joplin after the devastating earthquake there.
FEMA officials said they are using their regional offices to closely monitor the threat of severe weather in the central U.S. in Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Arkansas, including Joplin.
FEMA is also deploying a forecaster from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Weather Service to Joplin to watch and provide warnings for the ongoing severe weather.
President Barack Obama and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano have received multiple briefings on the tornadoes, FEMA officials said.
At the president's direction, and under the leadership of Security Napolitano, Administrator Craig Fugate and Deputy Administrator Richard Serino are in Missouri to direct efforts. On Monday, Serino toured the damage in Joplin and met with state and local officials.
"We continue to keep the families and communities impacted by these devastating storms in our thoughts and prayers, and we are here to continue to listen and learn from the folks on the ground, to ensure we are supporting our state and local partners as effectively as we can," said Fugate. "I remain in close contact with President Obama and Secretary Napolitano to update them regularly on the response efforts and what additional federal support may be needed as recovery efforts get under way. We also continue to urge all survivors in Jasper and Newton counties to contact FEMA about applying for federal disaster aid by visiting www.disasterassistance.gov or m.fema.gov."
FEMA has added Jasper and Newton counties to an ongoing disaster declaration the state received for recent storms, which means that tornado survivors in those counties can now apply for disaster assistance with FEMA.
FEMA deployed a Mobile Emergency Response Team to Missouri Sunday to provide self-sustaining telecommunications, logistics and operations support. In anticipation of requests from the state, FEMA also sent an Incident Management Assistance Team to Joplin to coordinate with state and local officials.
Also Sunday, FEMA activated the Department of Health and Human Services to coordinate hospital medical needs and patient evacuations with the state of Missouri.
Officials from FEMA urged those in regions affected by the storms to follow the instruction of state and local officials, listen to local TV or radio for updated emergency information and to ensure they have a safe place to go in case of severe weather.
For tips on getting preparing for a tornado, severe storm or flooding, visit Ready.gov or the FEMA mobile site, M.Fema.gov.
JOPLIN, Mo. -- The Federal Emergency Management Agency has detailed its continuing effort to assist with the cleanup and recovery in Joplin after the devastating earthquake there.
You have no idea what you just uncovered:
Tornado hit May 22, 2011...Drills have been going on since May 18, 2011 at the same exact hospital involving the same exact people!
What were the stories running in the Joplin news outlets during the months, weeks, days before the Joplin tornado?
Earthquake video contest, drill for students scheduled
March 20, 2011
http://www.joplinglobe.com/local/x449498596/Earthquake-video-contest-drill-for-students-scheduled
From staff reports news@joplinglobe.com
JOPLIN, Mo. — Are you earthquake prepared? Kindergarten through 12th-grade students across Missouri are being encouraged to share their knowledge about how to prepare for an earthquake by participating in the Great Central U.S. ShakeOut Video Contest, sponsored by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. The Great Central U.S. ShakeOut will be held at 10:15 a.m. Thursday, April 28. The goal is for everyone to practice the “Drop, Cover and Hold On’’ earthquake drill at that time on that day. The deadline to enter the video contest is Thursday, March 31. Contest rules require that participants be a Missouri K-12 teacher, student or class. Classroom grade categories are as follows: K-4, 5-8 and 9-12. Videos must be no longer than 90 seconds in length. Videos must use the theme “Show-Me Earthquake Safety!” The submission must not contain brand names or trademarks. Videos will be posted on YouTube.com, a video sharing site, to encourage participation and provide maximum public access. To enter the contest, you will need a YouTube account. Details: www.dnr.mo.gov/shakeout/index.html. Three videos will be chosen as finalists, one in each age category. The winners will receive a Missouri Rock and Mineral Set, and Stanford University’s Quake Catcher network has donated a Quake-Catcher earthquake sensor for the finalist in each age group. One grand-prize winner will be awarded a digital video camera. The grand prize-winning video will be shown during the 2011 Earth Day celebration Friday, April 29, at the state Capitol in Jefferson City. Winners will be notified during the first week of April. More than 1 million people in an eight-state region of the central United States are expected to participate in the ShakeOut exercise. The region can be affected by earthquakes that occur in the New Madrid fault zone. From December 1811 to February 1812, four of the largest North American earthquakes in recorded history struck the zone, with magnitudes estimated as high as 8.0. The fault system extends 150 miles southward from Cairo, Ill., through New Madrid and Caruthersville, Mo., through Blytheville, Ark., to Marked Tree. It crosses five state lines and crosses the Mississippi River in at least three places. The region was sparsely populated 200 years ago. In a report filed in November 2008, the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency warned that a serious earthquake now could result in “the highest economic losses due to a natural disaster in the United States,’’ with widespread and catastrophic damage. The ShakeOut drill, organizers said, was organized well in advance of the 9.0 earthquake that rocked Japan on March 11.
Earthquake Drill Practices Treating and Transporting Patients in Springfield MO
by Marie Saavedra, KY3 News msaavedra@ky3.com
3:49 p.m. CDT, May 19, 2011
http://www.ky3.com/news/ky3-earthquake-drill-practices-treating-transporting-patients-in-springfield-mo-20110519,0,2685718.story
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- When it comes to talk about an earthquake near the New Madrid fault, people say it's not if, but when, one hits. With that in mind, the Federal Emergency Management Agency coordinated an earthquake exercise in Springfield this week. In the event of a quake, Springfield's old airport terminal will serve as a destination for injured people who are able to make it out of the quake zone. Drills simulated taking in patients, cataloging them, and deciding who could be treated there and who must be flown by military plane to other hospitals across the country. "We look at our plans, see how they've worked, what worked, what didn't work, and how we have to improve those plans so they're better in the future," said FEMA Region 7 Administrator Beth Freeman. "We do incident management, we do communications, we do damage assessments. All those principles apply but, in an earthquake, they all apply at once, they all come together, all components. So, to do that full scale with all our federal assets makes it worth it to practice," said Greene County Emergency Management Director Ryan Nicholls. The exercise in Springfield was just one part of the drill across the country, including eight other nearby states that would be affected by a quake in the New Madrid Zone.
Joplin Hospital Prepares for the Possibility of a Mass Casualty Natural Disaster
Updated: Wednesday, May 18, 2011 7:06 PM EST
Reported by Angela Garcia, Reporter
http://www.koamtv.com/story/14672695/joplin-hospital-prepares-for-the-possibility-of-a-mass-casualty-earthquake
JOPLIN, MISSOURI - From December 1811 to February 1812, a series of four earthquakes shook the New Madrid fault line. The quakes ranged from 7.0 to 8.0 magnitudes. If the New Madrid fault line shakes again, the White House wants hospital and emergency workers to be ready. That is why they have implemented the largest planning drill in U.S. history, coinciding with the 200th anniversary of the 1811 quakes. Freeman Director of Emergency Trauma Services Bob Denton says it is vital to prepare for worse-case scenarios. "For many communities, the hospital is the place that people go to in times of distress," Denton says.
"We need to practice disaster drills so that when the event does occur, first of all, we know what to expect from other agencies, and also what to expect in our own organization." One of today's scenarios involved getting medical supplies in the event that their resources are exhausted. The drills also prepare employees with fatality management, mass shelter and power outages.
Warning systems are in place for natural disasters such as tornados.
Earthquakes, however, can hit unexpectedly and at any time. The Director of Clinical Operations at Freeman, Linda Dean, says recovering from an earthquake can take longer than other natural disasters and make it difficult to ship important supplies. "You've got all this devastation of these huge major thoroughfares so you interrupt, truthfully you interrupt the east to west transportation, west-east transportation across the whole United States with this so it is very, very, very devastating," says Dean. Freeman along with other agencies near the New Madrid seismic zone will participate in this drill until Friday.
“You’ll see the explosion reflected off the Moon.”
http://www.amfirstbooks.com/IntroPages/Periodicals/American_Free_Press/2011-01_06/AFP_2011-04-18_p12_Anniversary_of_Major_U.S._Quake_Spurs_Elaborate_FEMA_Exercise_by_Keith_Hansen.html
April 18, 2011
[...]
Located within New Madrid’s moderate-to-high-shake zones are some 20 nuclear power plants, a dozen major oil trunk lines and eight natural gas pipelines — oft-forgotten but volatile components that could wreak widespread havoc if ruptured. An indelible visual of such a catastrophe was offered by Steve Geller, former lead Democrat in the Florida Senate, while speaking to the insurance industry about catastrophic events several years ago.
“Virtually every natural gas pipeline in the nation is built over that fault,” Geller said.
“You’ll see the explosion reflected off the Moon.”
But neither that possible devastation nor the anniversary of the 1811 event appears to be the impetus behind the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) planning of its National Level Exercise 2011 (NLE 11), a six-month emergency preparedness program that kicked off April 6. The exercise, unprecedented in scope, is aimed at preparing local, state and federal agencies in an eight state region to function with little or no loss in continuity should the area be confronted with, as it states in FEMA’s Private Sector Participant Guide, “the catastrophic nature of a major earthquake.”
But why now? Seeking an answer to that question, AFP contacted FEMA’s Office of External Affairs (OEA). Although failing to grant a direct interview, OEA tersely responded by email as to the timing of this event: “Planning began several years ago.”
This indicates that FEMA, which is conducting its first national-level exercise to simulate responding to a natural hazard, was not motivated by undisclosed information that a catastrophic earthquake was imminent. Although a catastrophic earthquake may not happen soon, those familiar with the region’s history of seismic activity know the exercise could not have come soon enough. “The New Madrid Zone is the most active area, in terms of earthquakes, east of the Rocky Mountains,” said David Applegate, Ph.D., U.S. Geological Survey senior science advisor. “Particularly in light of past events and ongoing seismicity, we feel there still is a very real hazard.”
GRAND JURY INVESTIGATIONS ASAP!!!!!!!!!!!
Bob Denton
Director of Trauma Services at the Joplin Hospital
May 18, 2011
Joplin Hospital Prepares for the Possibility of a Mass Casualty Natural Disaster
Updated: Wednesday, May 18, 2011 7:06 PM EST
Reported by Angela Garcia, Reporter
http://www.koamtv.com/story/14672695/joplin-hospital-prepares-for-the-possibility-of-a-mass-casualty-earthquake
JOPLIN, MISSOURI - From December 1811 to February 1812, a series of four earthquakes shook the New Madrid fault line. The quakes ranged from 7.0 to 8.0 magnitudes. If the New Madrid fault line shakes again, the White House wants hospital and emergency workers to be ready. That is why they have implemented the largest planning drill in U.S. history, coinciding with the 200th anniversary of the 1811 quakes. Freeman Director of Emergency Trauma Services Bob Denton says it is vital to prepare for worse-case scenarios. "For many communities, the hospital is the place that people go to in times of distress," Denton says.
"We need to practice disaster drills so that when the event does occur, first of all, we know what to expect from other agencies, and also what to expect in our own organization." One of today's scenarios involved getting medical supplies in the event that their resources are exhausted. The drills also prepare employees with fatality management, mass shelter and power outages.
[...]
Updated: Wednesday, May 18, 2011 7:06 PM EST
Reported by Angela Garcia, Reporter
http://www.koamtv.com/story/14672695/joplin-hospital-prepares-for-the-possibility-of-a-mass-casualty-earthquake
JOPLIN, MISSOURI - From December 1811 to February 1812, a series of four earthquakes shook the New Madrid fault line. The quakes ranged from 7.0 to 8.0 magnitudes. If the New Madrid fault line shakes again, the White House wants hospital and emergency workers to be ready. That is why they have implemented the largest planning drill in U.S. history, coinciding with the 200th anniversary of the 1811 quakes. Freeman Director of Emergency Trauma Services Bob Denton says it is vital to prepare for worse-case scenarios. "For many communities, the hospital is the place that people go to in times of distress," Denton says.
"We need to practice disaster drills so that when the event does occur, first of all, we know what to expect from other agencies, and also what to expect in our own organization." One of today's scenarios involved getting medical supplies in the event that their resources are exhausted. The drills also prepare employees with fatality management, mass shelter and power outages.
[...]
May 24, 2011
Tale of hope emerges at Freeman Hospital
http://www.joplinglobe.com/local/x898211887/Tale-of-hope-emerges-at-Freeman-Hospital
By Emily Younker news@joplinglobe.com
JOPLIN, Mo. — When a massive tornado struck Sunday afternoon in central Joplin, Gregg Murdock was safely at home with his family — all except for 16-year-old Malachi, who was finishing a show at the Stained Glass Theatre on West 26th Street. After the storm passed, Murdock left to get his son, who had a small role in a production of “I Remember Mama” at the theater. But he could get his car only as close as Wall Avenue and 30th Street. He ran about a mile through the debris-strewn blocks to get to the theater.
FLATTENED
It was flattened. “The first thought is that nobody made it,” Murdock said. “Obviously a lot of emotion starts flowing, but at the same time you think there’s always a chance (of survival).” A text message from one of Malachi’s cast mates led Murdock to Freeman Hospital West in search of his son. The scene was hardly an improvement from the pile of rubble that was the theater — it was a “madhouse,” he said, with patients seeking treatment and a nearly overwhelmed staff juggling hundreds of injuries. One hour passed. Then another. And another. Murdock could find no word of Malachi. Finally — after 4 1/2 hours of searching — he found his son unconscious and heavily sedated in the intensive care unit. Malachi’s jaw was crushed, he had several missing teeth, and severe internal bleeding hindered his ability to breathe on his own. When the tornado hit, he was caught above ground while helping his cast mates into the theater’s basement, his father said.
STAFF RESPONDS
Patients like Malachi inundated the emergency room at Freeman Hospital West on Sunday night and Monday morning. A hospital spokesman said 888 Freeman staff members clocked in overnight; a normal night shift carries about 400 employees. Bob Denton, Freeman’s director for emergency and trauma services, arrived at the hospital at about 7 p.m. Sunday, a little more than an hour after the tornado hit, and was still working at 10 a.m. Monday. The hospital was filled to capacity. “We’ll be here for a while,” he said. “We are seeing a lot of head injuries, blunt head injuries, some chest injuries, orthopedic injuries as far as broken bones, lacerations — a lot of what appears to be from debris flying through the air.”
200 ER PATIENTS
Denton said the hospital’s emergency department at one point was treating more than 200 people, far exceeding its 41-bed capacity. Hundreds more waited to be seen by the staff, who “stepped up to the plate to do whatever needed to be done,” he said. Denton has worked in emergency rooms for 32 years. He was in Bay St. Louis, Miss., during Hurricane Katrina in 2005. But this tornado was of a different nature, he said. “This event happened so quickly,” he said. “It’s a major event, there’s no doubt about it.”
LONG HAUL
Amid the frenzy, Murdock and his family found a quiet spot in a darkened library at the Freeman Heart Institute. The family spread blankets and pillows over couches, chairs and the floor where they slept. Murdock anticipates that Malachi will be in the hospital for at least a week. He said the prognosis for his son, who plans to enroll at Ozark Christian College this fall, looks good. The boy’s family members spent Sunday night and Monday morning at the hospital for Malachi. They took turns going out for food and looked as though they had no intention of leaving. “We’re just glad to know it’s not life-threatening,” Murdock said of his son’s injuries. “Once you reach that point, you can breathe, so you’re OK.”
JOPLIN, Mo.--
The Freeman Health System employees join in a nationwide earthquake exercise. Japanese earthquake - the biggest to date ranking at 8.9, it stunned the world.
Because of disasters like this, area hospitals are preparing for the worst.
Dir. of Clinical Operations at Freeman Health System Linda Dean says, "From Monday until today, we were out of power, the land lines were down the cell towers were down."Its a scenario that's all part of a nationwide drill, and Freeman Health System is one many hospitals in 8 states to join in.
apparently alot of hazardous waste gets stored/processed in Joplin including some General Dynamics munitions:
General Dynamics - Ordenence and Tactical Systems Munitions Services
http://iseemarketplace.com/company.php?id=3443912&company=General%20Dynamics%20Ordnance%20and%20Tactical%20Systems%20Munition%20Services
GD-OTS MS provides complete explosive and hazardous waste disposal services including characterization, transportation, storage, treatment and disposal. We are experts in disposal of all explosive materials including: detonators (electric, electronic, nonelectric, fuse caps) cords (detonating, safety fuze, lead-in-line) explosives (dynamite, emulsion, watergels, ANFO) boosters and contaminated materials. Our RCRA permitted facility is located in Joplin, MO. We can assist with characterization or profiling of the hazardous waste, DOT packaging and shipping requirements, transportation, labels, treatment and disposal. GD-OTS MS's facility handles ammunition, fireworks, shape charges, perforators, airbags, smokes, flares, squibs, ignitors. GD-OTS MS also has the only commercial cluster munitions demil facility in the US.
Hospitals Train to be Ground Zero of a Disaster
Updated: May 24, 2011 10:35 PM
By Jason Zimmerman
Amid the deaths and destruction of the tornado that hit Joplin, Missouri, a hospital took a direct hit.
More than 180 patients and a staff of about 175 were inside the nine-story St. John's Regional Medical Center when the tornado hit it. Five people were killed.
After the storm passed, the entire building was evacuated in about 90 minutes and all the patients rushed to other facilities.
In Northeast Wisconsin, hospitals have mutual aid agreements in place to handle a major storm. It's a scenario they've spent time training for. During moments of severe weather, every hospital has a plan.
Should Appleton Medical Center take a direct hit, a computer system, called the Y-Track, would find extra beds and track patients being relocated.
"We sit around a table once a month, all the hospitals in our region -- which is six counties and 14 hospitals -- and discuss what would happen, and we just recently drilled it with paper patients last week," Tracey Froiland of Theda Care said.
"We do have evaluators that watch to make sure everything is followed right. It's a good opportunity to find out if there's areas we need to improve on for the next potential event," Deb Cross with Affinity Health System said.
We also checked with hospitals in Green Bay, where similar disaster plans are in place.
During an emergency, health care providers say, the name on the building is a lot less relevant.
"The hospitals sign a mutual aid agreement every single year, and we just play nice in the sandbox together and we'll help each other out wherever. We always say disaster is not competition, and we all need each other when it strikes," Froiland said.
http://www.wbay.com/story/14710544/2011/05/24/hospitals-train-to-be-ground-zero-in-a-disaster
Mobile field hospital put to the test in emergency drill involving cataclysmic tornado
Tent system could be used in event of major disaster
Wednesday May 19, 2011
http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/article/20110519/NEWS01/105190353/javascript:void(null);
Volunteers practice on a virtual patient inside the Michigan Transportable Emergency Surge Assistance Medical Unit's 140-bed mobile field hospital during a drill Wednesday at The Summit near Dimondale. MI-TESA is a large mobile field hospital made of 21 interconnected tents that can be deployed and set up virtually anywhere to treat patients in emergency or disaster situations.
*MI-TESA medical unit staff member Kirk Schaaf demonstrates a mobile X-ray unit for emergency volunteer health professionals on Wednesday during a disaster drill at The Summit near Dimondale.
*MI-TESA medical unit staff-member Stuart Myers (right) demonstrates medical equipment Wednesday with emergency volunteer health professionals during a disaster drill at The Summit near Dimondale.
*MI-TESA's 140-bed mobile field hospital includes a 10-bed pediatric area. The mobile field hospital can be deployed and set up virtually anywhere in disaster situations.
• Michigan's Transportable Emergency Surge Assistance Medical Unit includes two facilities - a 100-bed unit based in the Detroit area and a 40-bed unit based in the Kalamazoo area.
• The two units were set up together for the first time this week at The Summit for a disaster drill.
Wednesday's drill - the first test of Michigan's two mobile field facilities - centered around a catastrophic earthquake in the central U.S. that would knock out power to local hospitals. But officials said other scenarios could include a collapse at Spartan Stadium, a cataclysmic tornado or flooding similar to what's currently wreaking havoc in the South.
"This wouldn't be something that would be used in just a bad winter storm. This would be a very large incident," said Dr. Don Edwards, medical director for the District 1 Regional Medical Response Coalition based in East Lansing, an agency that specializes in large-scale disaster response. There are eight districts in the state.
"Look at the poor folks down South with the flooding - that would be an example where you could have a need for something like this where you lose everything for weeks and it will take weeks to bring back a lot of the resources," he said. The field hospital - which includes a 40-bed unit based in the Kalamazoo area and a 100-bed unit based in the Detroit area - is equipped to handle everything but surgery, and takes 10 hours to set up, not counting travel time. The $4 million mobile hospital - which includes all the medical equipment and tents - was purchased with federal emergency preparedness funds, said Dr. Jenny Atas, medical director for District 2 South, in the Detroit area, which maintains the larger, 100-bed unit. Each of 20 tents in The Summit were connected, equipped with portable ultrasound and X-ray machines, ventilators, hospital beds and more. The drill was the first time the state's two mobile field units were connected and was used to train medical staff and test the logistics if the resources were ever needed, Atas said. Locally, Sparrow Hospital has the capacity to hold 617 patient beds. Ingham Regional Medical Center officials said the bed capacity was not immediately available, but the hospital can handle anywhere from 20 to 50 extra patients at a time depending on the amount of staff available. "Most incidents, unless it's Spartan Stadium collapsing, we're going to be able to handle it with what we already have," said Rob Dale, Ingham Regional Medical Center's emergency manager. "We would look at outlying hospitals in St. Johns or Jackson if an incident was going to push us to our limit." Each hospital also has 50 extra beds that can be set up at alternate care centers, such as at Harry Hill High School or the Lansing Center. "All District 1 hospitals have the same style of plans," Sparrow Logistics and Emergency Management Director Carson Randall said. "There's also mutual aid agreements between all the area hospitals that are District 1 hospitals and beyond that there are pacts with other districts so that's where this piece would come into play."
Updated: May 24, 2011 10:35 PM
By Jason Zimmerman
Amid the deaths and destruction of the tornado that hit Joplin, Missouri, a hospital took a direct hit.
More than 180 patients and a staff of about 175 were inside the nine-story St. John's Regional Medical Center when the tornado hit it. Five people were killed.
After the storm passed, the entire building was evacuated in about 90 minutes and all the patients rushed to other facilities.
In Northeast Wisconsin, hospitals have mutual aid agreements in place to handle a major storm. It's a scenario they've spent time training for. During moments of severe weather, every hospital has a plan.
Should Appleton Medical Center take a direct hit, a computer system, called the Y-Track, would find extra beds and track patients being relocated.
"We sit around a table once a month, all the hospitals in our region -- which is six counties and 14 hospitals -- and discuss what would happen, and we just recently drilled it with paper patients last week," Tracey Froiland of Theda Care said.
"We do have evaluators that watch to make sure everything is followed right. It's a good opportunity to find out if there's areas we need to improve on for the next potential event," Deb Cross with Affinity Health System said.
We also checked with hospitals in Green Bay, where similar disaster plans are in place.
During an emergency, health care providers say, the name on the building is a lot less relevant.
"The hospitals sign a mutual aid agreement every single year, and we just play nice in the sandbox together and we'll help each other out wherever. We always say disaster is not competition, and we all need each other when it strikes," Froiland said.
http://www.wbay.com/story/14710544/2011/05/24/hospitals-train-to-be-ground-zero-in-a-disaster
Mobile field hospital put to the test in emergency drill involving cataclysmic tornado
Tent system could be used in event of major disaster
Wednesday May 19, 2011
http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/article/20110519/NEWS01/105190353/javascript:void(null);
Volunteers practice on a virtual patient inside the Michigan Transportable Emergency Surge Assistance Medical Unit's 140-bed mobile field hospital during a drill Wednesday at The Summit near Dimondale. MI-TESA is a large mobile field hospital made of 21 interconnected tents that can be deployed and set up virtually anywhere to treat patients in emergency or disaster situations.
*MI-TESA medical unit staff member Kirk Schaaf demonstrates a mobile X-ray unit for emergency volunteer health professionals on Wednesday during a disaster drill at The Summit near Dimondale.
*MI-TESA medical unit staff-member Stuart Myers (right) demonstrates medical equipment Wednesday with emergency volunteer health professionals during a disaster drill at The Summit near Dimondale.
*MI-TESA's 140-bed mobile field hospital includes a 10-bed pediatric area. The mobile field hospital can be deployed and set up virtually anywhere in disaster situations.
• Michigan's Transportable Emergency Surge Assistance Medical Unit includes two facilities - a 100-bed unit based in the Detroit area and a 40-bed unit based in the Kalamazoo area.
• The two units were set up together for the first time this week at The Summit for a disaster drill.
Wednesday's drill - the first test of Michigan's two mobile field facilities - centered around a catastrophic earthquake in the central U.S. that would knock out power to local hospitals. But officials said other scenarios could include a collapse at Spartan Stadium, a cataclysmic tornado or flooding similar to what's currently wreaking havoc in the South.
"This wouldn't be something that would be used in just a bad winter storm. This would be a very large incident," said Dr. Don Edwards, medical director for the District 1 Regional Medical Response Coalition based in East Lansing, an agency that specializes in large-scale disaster response. There are eight districts in the state.
"Look at the poor folks down South with the flooding - that would be an example where you could have a need for something like this where you lose everything for weeks and it will take weeks to bring back a lot of the resources," he said. The field hospital - which includes a 40-bed unit based in the Kalamazoo area and a 100-bed unit based in the Detroit area - is equipped to handle everything but surgery, and takes 10 hours to set up, not counting travel time. The $4 million mobile hospital - which includes all the medical equipment and tents - was purchased with federal emergency preparedness funds, said Dr. Jenny Atas, medical director for District 2 South, in the Detroit area, which maintains the larger, 100-bed unit. Each of 20 tents in The Summit were connected, equipped with portable ultrasound and X-ray machines, ventilators, hospital beds and more. The drill was the first time the state's two mobile field units were connected and was used to train medical staff and test the logistics if the resources were ever needed, Atas said. Locally, Sparrow Hospital has the capacity to hold 617 patient beds. Ingham Regional Medical Center officials said the bed capacity was not immediately available, but the hospital can handle anywhere from 20 to 50 extra patients at a time depending on the amount of staff available. "Most incidents, unless it's Spartan Stadium collapsing, we're going to be able to handle it with what we already have," said Rob Dale, Ingham Regional Medical Center's emergency manager. "We would look at outlying hospitals in St. Johns or Jackson if an incident was going to push us to our limit." Each hospital also has 50 extra beds that can be set up at alternate care centers, such as at Harry Hill High School or the Lansing Center. "All District 1 hospitals have the same style of plans," Sparrow Logistics and Emergency Management Director Carson Randall said. "There's also mutual aid agreements between all the area hospitals that are District 1 hospitals and beyond that there are pacts with other districts so that's where this piece would come into play."
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