MCI Trailer

[lilyogi]

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300-person mass-casualty trailer prepping Q-C for emergency
By Todd Welvaert, toddw@qconline.com

Photo: Terry Herbig
Rock Island Arsenal Firefighters Darin Keith, left, and Tad Robison were responsible for putting together the RIA Fire Department's new mass casualty trailer. The medical trailer is able to provide medical support for more than 300 people in the event of a large scale emergency. The Rock Island Arsenal Fire Department recently joined an elite group when they earned an internationally recognized accreditation from the Board of Commissioners for the Commission of Fire Accreditation International.



The trailer is only 20 feet long, but it could mean the difference between life and death for hundreds of Quad-Citians if disaster strikes.

The Rock Island Arsenal Fire Department unveiled its new mass-casualty trailer Monday. The $38,000 trailer, bought by the Rock Island Arsenal, carries basic and advanced life-saving equipment for up to 300 people and could be pressed into service anywhere in the surrounding area.

"It's really unprecedented. No one within the area has anything like this," said Rick Plett, assistant Arsenal fire chief.

"It has 75 back boards with straps; it has the capability to provide oxygen to up to 20 patients at the same time. It has equipment to treat wounds from big to small. It has a generator, portable lights, even a portable toilet. It can respond to any type of massive casualty incident you could have," he said.

The assistant chief said an accident at The Mark, an airplane crash at the Quad City International Airport, or an accident with a school bus could strain the area's emergency response capability. A typical ambulance, for example, may have enough equipment to treat four patients, he said.

"The different departments around have the manpower, but maybe not necessarily the equipment, and that's where the trailer comes in," Mr. Plett said. "The back of the trailer comes down and we can unload this kind of equipment."

The Arsenal Fire Department is a member of the area's Mutual Aid Box Alarm System, or MABAS, a formal agreement among area fire and emergency responders to provide mutual aid in a crisis. The MABAS system was used to funnel emergency workers to the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast area.

The department recently gained international accreditation from the Commission of Fire Accreditation International. Arsenal firefighter and paramedic Jim Crozier led the department through the process, which was required by the U.S. Department of Defense for all of its fire departments in 2001.

To earn the accreditation level of excellence, Mr. Crozier said the department and its employees met 290 performance indicators, developed a five-year strategic plan and passed other criteria.

The department has two companies in one station house, with 29 people who staff two 24-hour shifts.

[RspctFrmCalgary]

So what do you have to cough up now that your name and picture are in the paper??

Come on, let's see the link!

CONGRATULATIONS! That's pretty damn cool

[lilyogi]

www.qconline.com
www.qctimes.net
www.kwqc.com

Oh and it is only going to cost me about $15, there is three of us that have to split Whitey's ice cream

www.whiteysicecream.com
best ice cream around!!

[RspctFrmCalgary]

Thanks! I did see the other thread as I was on my way out the door to work, I'll check it out later ....