Mobile Medical Units Ready for Action in Northeast Alabama

July 06--Fort Payne, Ala., is home to a 50-bed Alabama Department of Public Health mobile hospital aimed at providing medical care quickly in case of catastrophic emergencies in the state's northeast corner.

Not unlike the facilities on the 1970s Korean War-based television show "M.A.S.H.," DeKalb County's mobile medical station is designed to get close to the action with self-contained electrical power, air conditioning and medical personnel and supplies, according to Michael Posey, deputy director of the county emergency management agency.

"We could have used it in 2011," Posey said, referring to the tornado outbreak four years ago that claimed 35 lives in DeKalb and more than 240 statewide. "They could have used it to triage individuals that were injured and it would have been a good thing to have had during that storm because there was such a large number of patients."

Between 200 and 300 people were injured by the deadly twisters, far more than medical facilities in Fort Payne could handle quickly, Posey said.

"It just overwhelmed them," he said.

The mobile medical station also could be used to treat victims of an infectious illness outbreak on-site, he said, or be used for triage in a mass-casualty situation such as a fire, allowing medical personnel to determine whether they should be transported to other medical facilities. And the station would be handy in a hospital or nursing home evacuation.

The state health department provides medical and support staff for each of the seven mobile medical stations scattered across the state. Posey said the next nearest station is in Lauderdale County, west of Huntsville.

If a mass-casualty disaster strikes in Northeast Alabama, DeKalb officials can roll out three trailers containing the station facilities, which resemble inflatable bounce houses seen at kids' events and birthday parties, Posey said. The three tents that comprise the station can be erected in less than two hours and contain a week's worth of supplies.

Each of Alabama's seven mobile medical stations can support 50 patients for seven days, according to Alabama Department of Public Health information. When the stations were first introduced several years ago, four were housed in Montgomery and one each in Mobile, Jefferson and Madison counties.

Posey said scattering the stations provides better coverage across the state, especially in rural counties where medical facilities are distant or nonexistent.

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