From left, Ashley Tucker, assistant chief of the Central Fire Department; David Crews, alternate director for the Alabama Association of Volunteer Fire Departments for district 2; Winston EMA Director A.J. Brown; Gerita Rye, marketing, public relations, physician recruitment and Lakeland Foundaton director for Lakeland Community Hospital; County Commissioners David Cummings and Bobby Everett.
WINSTON COUNTY - Winston County officials hope and pray a mass casualty incident never occurs locally, but are amply prepared in case one does.
The county recently received two portable, inflatable units--one to be used as a portable emergency room for the hospital or an emergency operations headquarters/mobile command center for first responders, the other as a drive-through unit for vehicles, so residents can receive COVID-19 vaccinations out of the weather. The units can also serve as a cooling station for emergency responders on scenes where excessive heat is a factor.
The inflatable units came with a 17.5 kilowatt generator as well as a 2.5 ton heating and cooling unit used for both enclosed inflatable areas, officials said.
The unit measuring 22x22 can be used as a makeshift emergency operations center or vaccination site. The 30x30 unit will be used as a drive through area for two lanes of smaller cars for persons getting a COVID-19 vaccination. That unit can also serve as a mobile command site, mass casualty unit and makeshift hospital area, county officials said.
The two units also include two 10-foot LED inflatable lights, which can be used on scenes at night, noted Winston County Emergency Management Director A.J. Brown.
“This grant has been in process for a little over a year now,” Brown stated.
The two inflatable units with all of the equipment, including a large container of medical supplies, was part of a $300,000 Community Development Block Grant used toward COVID relief, Brown explained. The cost of the units and related equipment, including the 20-foot box trailer in which the materials are hauled, was $116,000, county officials said.
See complete story in the Northwest Alabamian.
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