Sleep Well, MED-1 Has Your Back
By Bob Barber
        
John Hannan introduced Dr. Tom Blackwell of Carolinas Medical Center. Dr. Blackwell wears a number of hats with Carolinas Medical Center (CMC) and Charlotte-Mecklenburg emergency services, including Medical Director of MEDIC, the local EMS system, an Emergency Medicine Specialist for CMC, and Director of Pre-Hospital Medicine at CMC. Dr. Blackwell is a graduate of The Citadel and earned his M.D. degree at Creighton University in Omaha.
 
Dr. Blackwell reviewed the development of planning for disaster medical services in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg region as far back as 1997. In 1998, an innovative response organization was formed called ALERT-Advanced Local Emergency Response Team. At that point the question was how could mass casualties be transported to emergency treatment facilities without requiring an enormous fleet of ambulances. The answer seemed to be mass casualty transit buses, such as those used in Toronto. Then the 9/11 disaster occurred, followed by the anthrax scare and other disasters.
 
The way in which the 9/11 disaster overwhelmed the emergency treatment centers, led Dr. Blackwell and others to question whether they should be focusing on how to get more victims to a most likely already overwhelmed treatment system. Instead, they thought it made more sense to build capacity to augment the medical facilities-a facility that could go to the places that the medical care was needed. This was the impetus for the planning for the Mobile Emergency Department, or MED-1.
 
Dr. Blackwell showed slides of the very impressive MED-1 facility, which consists of two 53-foot tractor trailers, one of which expands through retractable pods to form a 1,000 square foot emergency treatment facility with two full operating facilities that are the equivalent to a fixed level 1 trauma center, four critical care beds, eight treatment beds and a dental chair, and a tent system that surrounds the emergency treatment facility that allows another 250 beds to be set up to provide hospital-level care. MED-1 is then a mobile 250-bed emergency department and hospital.
The facility is designed to be self-sufficient for 72 hours, including its own generators, water supply, waste disposal, filtered air, pharmaceuticals, and supplies. Critical care monitors, medical gases, suction, and radiology are built into the facility, as are ventilators, a full laboratory, and satellite communications and telemedicine capability.
 
The second trailer is a NASCAR-style double-decker that carries supplies and equipment when the unit is in transit. When the treatment facility is in operation, the second trailer serves as sleeping quarters for the staff of physicians, nurses, and technicians that travel with the facility. The staff comes from CMC and MEDIC and a 10-person security detachment is provided by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department. The facility was built with a grant from the Homeland Security Department.
 
MED-1 was deployed to Waveland, Mississippi to provide medical care for the citizens of Hancock County following the landfall of Hurricane Katrina in August, 2005, and the near destruction of the Hancock County Hospital. A team of 100 people was deployed and set up in the parking lot of a Kmart store that had been inundated by a 28-foot storm surge 2 ½ miles inland. The devastation was total and many people with chronic medical needs had not had access to medical care in seven days.
 
MED-1 arrived on site at 4:00 pm and was able to see its first patient by 6:00 pm the same day. Soon the facility was seeing as many as 350 patients per day, which is as many as a large, urban emergency department would see. Over the course of the seven-week deployment to Waveland, the facility treated between 7,400 and 7,500 patients. Through the generous support of Hendrick Motorsports, the staff was rotated weekly in the aircraft normally used to transport the Hendrick teams to the NASCAR races.
 
Dr. Blackwell reported the Carolinas MED-1 is the only fully-operational facility of its kind in the world. He closed by saying that he wanted everyone to "sleep well tonight because we've got your back." The club responded with a standing ovation for the presentation.
  
Head Table: Bill Bradley, Lee Tabor, David Zimmerman, Jon Hannan, Benton Bragg, Henry Cantrell;
Invocation: Floyd Davis;
Visitors & Guests: Ed Turner; Health & Happiness: Phil Van Hoy, Song: Natalie English; Piano: Thomas Moore; Photos: Bert Voswinkel

• Welcome new Rotarians. Ryan Root, sponsored by Tom Bartholomy, is president of Smile Starters and oversees business operations for a group of seven dental offices in NC. Ryan was a member of Pueblo Rotary (Colorado) before relocating to Charlotte. Contact Ryan at rproot@gmail.com. Wes Sugg is sponsored by Ervin Jackson and is a partner with Laurel Wealth Advisors. Contact Wes at wsugg@laurelwealth.com.
    
• Email correction for Karen McKemie - kmckemie@mbcharlotte.com.
   
• Cynthia Marshall is beaming over the news of twin grandchildren, Zoe and Steve Marshall, born May 20th in Pasadena. The proud parents are Ellen and Tommy Marshall; Dick Reiling, Presbyterian Cancer Center Medical Director, commented on supporting cancer survivors in the National Cancer Survivors Day news insert; JA of the Central Carolinas CEO Phil Volponi will soon announce a new job-shadowing program that lets kids learn about their dream career. Junior Achievement Carolinas turns 50 on June 8.
   
• Job changes to note: Marcus Lee has joined the Charlotte office of Moore & Van Allen (marcuslee@mvalaw.com); Collin Brown has joined Kennedy Covington (cwbrown@kennedycovington.com); Chuck Cocke has started NC2 Properties (chuck.cocke@gmail.com).
   
• Carroll Thomas had a triple bypass on Monday. No update at this time. George Thompson is in cardiac rehab three days a week and is doing well since his bypass surgery.

• Natalie English has been selected as one of the Women In Business by the Charlotte Business Journal.

June 10th meeting will be at the Harris Conference Center (CPCC West Campus)
Interstate 85 to exit 33, Billy Graham Parkway 1.6 miles, left on Morris Field Drive, right on CPCC West Campus Drive.

Interstate 77 to exit 6B, Woodlawn Road becomes Billy Graham Parkway 3.5 miles, right on Morris Field Drive.

From Uptown, US-74 West (Wilkinson Blvd) 2.6 miles, left on Morris Field, 0.9 miles left on CPCC West Campus Drive.