The mobile hospital that treated 7,400 patients in Mississippi during a six-week period following Hurricane Katrina could provide a model for rapid medical responses to future mass casualties, according to an article to be published online in the Annals of Emergency Medicine. For the first two weeks post-Katrina, five emergency physicians, three trauma surgeons, an orthopedist, and two anesthesiologists--as well as nurses, paramedics, pharmacists, and a radiation technician--treated 25 to 300 patients a day. A slightly smaller staff continued to treat patients for another month. The first and only hospital of its kind in the world, Carolinas MED-1 incorporates an emergency department, surgical suite, critical care beds, and general treatment and admitting area. Consisting of two 53-foot tractor-trailers, the unit expands to a workspace of 1,000 square feet and supports an environmentally controlled awning structure that incorporates up to 130 beds. It carries its own generators, oxygen, x-ray and ultrasound capability, and diagnostic lab. “We designed Carolinas MED-1 as a fast and flexible resource to be adapted for use in the event of a weapon of mass destruction or pandemic,” said Thomas Blackwell, MD, of the Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, N.C.
