NEW ORLEANS – When Hurricane Katrina savaged the Gulf Coast in August 2005, the Carolinas Medical Center’s MED-1 facility was there, helping to treat injured residents at a time when most hospitals in the region were either closed or overloaded. And when the beleaguered city welcomed revelers the following year for the annual Mardi Gras. MED-1 was on hand again to help out.
The Charlotte, N.C.-based healthcare system’s prized emergency response unit, consisting of two 53-foot tractor trailers (one for patient care and one for storage) made yet another visit to The Big Easy in February, appearing at HIMSS07 to show off its new array of IT tools. The recently donated solution gave MED-1 a high-tech gloss that James Bond would appreciate.
“This brings us into the modern-day era,” said an equally appreciative Jerry Morris, clinical faculty and operations manager for MED-1, in showing off the trailer. “The technology is great.”
CDW Healthcare, a Vernon Hills, Ill.-based provider of healthcare technology products and services, provided the technology. Working with the Carolinas Medical Center to identify IT needs, CDW donated several integrated components, including VoIP networking hardware and wireless phones, a bar-coded wristband positive patient ID tracking system, PACS workstations with diagnostic quality LCD monitors, a DICOM compliant CD burner and rugged tablet PCs and laptop carts. CDW officials also helped install and integrate the new systems.
“Donating mission-critical technology to the MED-1 treatment facility represents a unique opportunity for CDW Healthcare to advance the delivery of life-saving medical care in emergency situations,” said Bob Rossi, CDW general manager. “By upgrading and expanding its IT and communications capabilities, we can effectively support MED-1’s mission of offering comprehensive patient treatment during natural or man-made disasters.”
When Katrina struck, the estimated 5,700 hospital beds in the New Orleans area were reduced to 1,800, and access to healthcare was spotty. Morris said MED-1 spent about six weeks in the area and treated 7,400 people, addressing everything from coughs to heart attacks.
MED-1 was created about three years ago, primarily through the efforts of Thomas Blackwell, MD, an attending physician in the Department of Emergency Medicine and Medical Director for the Center for Prehospital Medicine at Carolinas Medical Center. Making use of U.S. Department of Homeland Security funding, he helped assemble a mobile, Level-1 trauma unit that contains six critical care beds, seven general beds and a dental/ENT chair in a secure, HEPA-filtered environment. The 9-foot-wide trailer expands to 26 feet upon deployment, and an accompanying tent can be used for 120 extra beds. Four carts and 10 laptops are designated for outdoor use as well.
Morris said it costs $25,000 to $50,000 a day to deploy MED-1, and would cost about $5 million to create a second unit equipped like the first. Self-sufficient for up to 72 hours and powered by two 100-kilowatt generators, it can be ready to operate in 18 minutes and 22 seconds. The trucks can also fit into a C5 Galaxy for air transport across the globe.
Rossi and Morris said CDW would continue to work with Carolinas to ensure that MED-1 is equipped with the necessary technology.
“This is a continuing partnership,” Rossi said.
