A state-of-the-art inflatable mobile hospital will be featured at an emergency preparedness exercise next week at Newton Medical Center. The exercise, on Wednesday, April 11, will serve as an opportunity for the hospital and local partners including Harvey County Emergency Management and Newton Fire/EMS to ensure coordinated readiness in the event of a natural or man-made disaster.
In partnership with the South Central Kansas Healthcare Coalition, the mobile hospital, which is only deployed a few times a year for similar exercises, will be setup in the hospital’s parking lot. Equipped to function just as a hospital does, the mobile hospital unit is comprised of five inflatable shelters. The two larger 20 foot by 40 foot shelters are designed to provide medical care and include 16 curtained off areas for hospital bed placement; the two smaller 20 foot by 20 foot shelters can be used for multiple purposes; and the fifth shelter, called a quad, is designed to connect the four shelters.
Between noon and 2 p.m. that day, the public is invited to tour the mobile hospital and learn about Newton Fire/EMS’s Disaster Medical Support Unit. Visitors should park in the main parking lot and enter through the main hospital entrance.
Earlier in the day, the mobile hospital will be used to host the monthly Local Emergency Planning Committee meeting and for a functional exercise.
