WYSO Local News
(2010-01-22)
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YELLOW SPRINGS, OH
(WYSO) -
The National Center for Medical Readiness at Wright State University in Dayton is on alert status for Deployment to Haiti in the aftermath of the earthquake.
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Wright State's Modular Emergency System, Or MEMS, was developed to expand the community's disaster response effort. It has built more than 1,750 beds for Ohioans to receive medical care should a disaster occur. Now, The Ohio Department of Health and Governor Ted Strickland have asked Wright State to prepare to send a 500 bed field hospital, which is basically a 53 foot trailer that includes the essentials for handling a medical emergency.
"Primarily it would be a resupply mission. We would be providing cots, medical supplies, pharmaceuticals, there is is some food and water," says Jack Smith, the Program Manager for MEMS.
Smith says they have offered their services to the federal government and are awaiting word on whether or not they will go. This would be the first deployment of this team from Dayton and Ohio. Smith says that the MEMs project could be a big help to Haiti. He adds that it is also an asset locally, and can serve as a model for other state's emergency plans.
"Public Health and Emergency Management officials from the city of New York, LA, Florida, Texas, Michigan are just some of the ones who have come here to look it and get some idea and utilize it in their planning issues," says Smith.
The MEMS program was built under the Ohio Department of Health, and fund with grants from federal programs.
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