Portable, Durable Disaster Hospital Gets First Test in Civilian Use, Offers Preparedness for Bioterrorism Attack.

LAS VEGAS -- BLU-MED Response Systems:

Nevada becomes first state with a portable hospital that could treat the public following a biochemical or infectious disease incident

Today the Nevada Hospital Association (NHA) successfully concluded the nation's first civilian test of a rapidly-deployable portable hospital designed for responding to large numbers of patients resulting from a bioterrorist attack or natural disaster.

Called a Disaster Medical Facility, the freestanding portable hospital was designed to the NHA's specifications by BLU-MED Response Systems. Featuring a 50-bed ward capacity, the Disaster Medical Facility is completely self-sufficient and equipped to support advanced-level medical care -- including trauma and surgical services -- within 24 hours of an event.

This week's Las Vegas deployment proved the practicality of the freestanding blue, orange and white hospital structure for community disaster preparedness. The basic 50 bed facility is modular in nature, allowing almost unlimited expansion if, for example, a bioterrorism incident were to result in thousands of patients in need of care. It provides the controlled environment needed for advanced medical operations, including maintaining a clean environment and constant temperature whether the facility operates in Nevada's desert in summer or mountains in winter.

Nevada is the first state to invest in such a portable disaster hospital, and plans to add more of them to their preparedness program. Modeled on the rapid-response field hospitals currently in use by the United States military, particularly in the Iraq war, the state hospital association's Disaster Medical Facility is designed to become fully operational within 24 hours and remain functional for the duration of an incident.

"This first exercise worked even better than we could have expected," explained Christopher Lake, Ph.D., director of hospital preparedness for the Nevada Hospital Association. "Hospitals throughout the country are grappling with the issue of how to serve a surge of patients following a disaster. That issue could escalate dramatically if the disaster involved bioterrorism or infectious disease, either of which could require long term isolation and treatment."

The exercise, in concert with Clark County Emergency Management, the Nevada State Health Division and the Clark County Health District, tested all facets of deployment, mobilization and set-up. The goals of the exercise were: to determine the best methods for deployment, to mobilize the necessary equipment to one central location, and to train a set-up team and achieve operational readiness in less than 24 hours.

"We are committed to developing emergency facilites in which advanced-level care can be provided," stated Joe Heck D.O, medical director for the NHA. "This exercise proves that we can reach this objective."

Medical capabilities in the portable hospital include advanced-level medical care, such as: triage, treatment of traumatic injuries and burns, intensive care, medication administration, laboratory operations, and medical isolation and treatment for patients exposed to infectious biological agents.

BLU-MED Response Systems, the manufacturer of the portable facility, also participated in the exercise, providing logistics and training support. BLU-MED Response Systems is a division of Alaska Structures, the primary supplier of specialized portable medical facilities used by the Air Force Expeditionary Medical Support (EMEDS) program.

The equipment and exercise funding were provided to enhance Nevada's hospital response to a public health emergency through grant number 1U3MRC03898-01-00 to the Nevada State Health Division from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration.

About NHA

The Nevada Hospital Association, Reno, Nev., is a statewide non-profit professional association established in 1960. The Nevada Hospital Association has been charged by the Nevada State Health Division to increase the abilities of all hospitals within the state to respond to any type of disaster. The association works to facilitate a public-private partnership and encourages a system-wide approach to preparedness. All Nevada hospitals are actively preparing for effective disaster response.

About BLU-MED

BLU-MED Response Systems, (www.blu-med.com) Kirkland, Wash., provides rapidly deployable and scalable disaster medical facilities that enable communities to extend advanced-level medical care when and where needed, in the most extreme conditions for the duration of an event. BLU-MED Response Systems is a division of Alaska Structures, Anchorage -- "Alaska Structures ... Quality Taken to Extremes ... Since 1975."