Doctors at Victoria General got a rare glimpse at the mobile hospital the health authority could call in for major emergencies.
The $5-million mobile medical unit was inherited by the province as legacy of the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. Originally used to treat athletes in Whistler, it is now kept on stand-by in a Delta storage facility, ready to be deployed when an disaster strikes.
B次元官网网址淲e can get it anywhere in B.C. in eight to 36 hours,B次元官网网址� said Leanne Appleton, MMU clinic operations director.
The unit is contained in two 16-metre transport trailers. One carries supplies and the other expands into a 90-square-metre hospital with a dozen treatment bays and an operating room with surgical capacity. A third smaller trailer carries a tent that can be used to provide acute care for up to 100 people.
If roads are blocked, the trailers can be airlifted into an area. The unit has its own energy generators, water supply, waste disposal and an oxygen concentrator on board.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 designed to be totally self sufficient,B次元官网网址� Appleton said at VGH. B次元官网网址淲e have everything we need to run at capacity for 72 hours.B次元官网网址�
The unit would be called in if an emergency B次元官网网址� such as earthquake, fire or flood B次元官网网址� overwhelms local hospital capacity or if a part of the hospital itself is damaged. ItB次元官网网址檚 also been used at special events, including the Abbotsford Air Show.
Prior to buying this unit, the province had nothing similar at its disposal.
Dr. Peter Hennecke, MMU clinical manager, is responsible for training doctors to work inside the unit in an emergency.
B次元官网网址淲e canB次元官网网址檛 just dump (the unit) at a hospital and expect doctors to know how to use it,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淲e show them how to use all the equipment and where everything is.B次元官网网址�
Hennecke said doctors often tell him the MMU is nicer than the facility they usually work in.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 big and bright, and very modern,B次元官网网址� Hennecke said. B次元官网网址淧eople are always impressed coming in here.B次元官网网址�
The unit is managed by four full-time and two part-time staff, with drivers on-call to transport it.
ItB次元官网网址檚 currently being toured across the province to raise public awareness about emergency preparedness and give emergency responders a chance to see the unit first-hand.
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