How did you get the idea to create MED-1?
Dr. Tom Blackwell: “As emergency physician, I was concerned about the problem of what hospitals can do when they’re overwhelmed, whether by a disease outbreak, a disaster or a terrorist incident.
“You need more capacity, instantly, but there’s no way to build an emergency facility instantly. Meanwhile, I was also medical director for the Charlotte Motor Speedway, and had seen a lot of the specially outfitted trailers used by racing teams.
“We started thinking about how we could turn a 53-foot trailer into a mobile emergency department. Eventually, we got together with Featherlite, who manufactures the shells for many of the racing trailers, and with their largest dealer, Golden Gait Trailers, which is here in the Charlotte area.
“By 2003, we had received a grant to start work, and in 2004, we had a trailer built and were training the staff who would run it.”
When did you get your trial by fire?
“Our first deployment was in Mississippi, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, where the devastation was incredible.
“In about six weeks, we treated over 7,500 patients in a K-Mart parking lot. That’s about as many as a Level 1 hospital trauma center could see.
“The next year, we went to New Orleans to help out during Mardi Gras, and treated 575 patients in two weeks.
“Then, in 2008, we sent our MED-1 unit to Columbus, Indiana, where they’d had a flood which disabled their hospital. In six weeks there, we treated 2,500 patients.”
So one unit has already taken care of over 10,000 people?
“Yes. Since then, we’ve delivered a MED-1 unit to the city of Los Angeles, two to Ecuador and are working on a program for Zambia. Ecuador has a national healthcare crisis, and is using the MED-1 units to take some of the burden off its hospital system.” And Zambia?
“Zambia is planning on doing something very innovative. MED-1 units aren’t designed to just sit and wait until a disaster or crisis happens. They function best when they’re working all the time.
“What Zambia plans on doing is to use several units to bring healthcare to remote areas of the country. Each unit might travel to where the road ends, so to speak, and set up to provide care for a week or so, then move on to the next location.
“People in countries like Zambia sometimes have to walk 30 miles or more to the nearest clinic. MED-1 would shorten those trips and vastly improve the health of Zambia’s people.
“In case of a disaster, Zambia could deploy its MED-1 units wherever needed, then return them to the more routine public health service after the emergency was over.
“Our units can deliver the highest level of emergency medical care anyplace it’s needed – on a moment’s notice. We literally can see our first patient no more than 30 minutes after we put on the brakes. And, we can have a 250-bed hospital functioning within eight hours.”
We also spoke with Tim Masud,
head of Golden Gait Trailers of Concord, North Carolina,
on his firm’s work outfitting these MED-1 units. |
