Picture the scenario, there has been another major hurricane ripping through a densely populated part of our coastline. All power is out; many hospitals were flooded and are now unusable and the area is in a state of major calamity. What can be done to aid the stricken population?
Medical aid should be a prime concern. There will be people who were injured during the storm, people who were scheduled medical attention before the storm but can no longer receive it (expectant mothers for example) and, in these situations, there is always a risk of disease outbreaks.
Send In The Doctors
No doubt a qualified doctor can do much good in his own right and he can be sent in with accompanying support staff (nurses, paramedics, etc). But, sooner rather than later, the medical personnel are going to need equipment and much of that equipment will require electrical power to operate it.
But, Also Send In The Tools Of Their Trade
Most medicines and vaccines can be administered in the field without recourse to hospitals and clinics but, what about modern diagnostic equipment and operating rooms? True, diagnostic skills are part of all doctors’ training but few would claim that they can see inside a patient better than an x-ray machine or ultrasound. Ideally, this sort of equipment should also be sent to the disaster area.
The Civil War army surgeons did perform operations in battle field hospitals but, again, today’s surgeons and doctors are not going to claim that they can perform just as well in a school gym as they can in a hospital operating room.
The solution to the lack of functioning equipment in such situations can be found in a Mobile Medical Unit. Large vehicles or trailers that have been fitted out inside to duplicate a room within a hospital can be driven or hauled to wherever they are needed once the access roads have been re-opened. If necessary, they can even be airlifted in or shipped on water craft. Each Mobile Medical Unit can be customized to suit whatever medical speciality is deemed to be required. Mobile generator sets will also be required to power them.
Have Them Held In Readiness
A Mobile Medical Unit cannot be thrown together in short order and concerned authorities should procure them well before they might be needed. Of course, a Mobile Medical Unit does not come cheaply and budgets have to be justified. The justification can be found in the fact that these units need not be mothballed and on standby but can be put to good use serving remote areas of a community or dealing with smaller, localised calamities.
Any type of individually customized mobile medical unit can be built and supplied by Mobile Specialty Vehicles, Inc. This company was founded over 30 years ago and built their reputation with mobile clinic construction.
