Emergency agencies from around the nine-county Missouri Region G area recently gathered in Willow Springs for an emergency management trailer rally, hosted by the Missouri State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) for Region G.
Agencies participating in the June 9 event included Ozarks Medical Center, West Plains Regional Haz-Mat Response Team, Haz-Mat Resource Unit, Texas County Health Department, Region G Homeland Security, American Red Cross, Missouri Department of Transportation Mobile Emergency Response Operations Center, Willow Springs Police and the Texas County Medical Reserve Corps.
OMC Emergency Department Manger Steve Bassett, who participated in the event, said this was the first time for all of the emergency response trailers to be together in one location.
“It gives us a chance to test communication systems too and find out what resources everyone else has in case of a major disaster,” he said.
Bassett said many of the trailers, including OMC’s, have the ability to be deployed anywhere in the state. For example, Bassett said the agencies would likely be deployed to respond to an incidence involving the New Madrid fault line, a scenario the emergency group has trained for.
OMC’s 24-foot emergency response trailer and contents are to be used during disasters or mass casualty incidents. The trailer was purchased in late 2006 through grant funding administered by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services through a contract with the Missouri Hospital Association. OMC was one of 16 Missouri Hospitals to receive the trailer.
The trailer includes a large tent shelter and supplies to treat 100 mass casualty patients without restocking. It is equipped with medical supplies such as splints, backboards, medications and oxygen and high-tech communications equipment, including wireless Internet, exterior scene lights and a satellite that makes communication available in any location.