With the chaos and devastation that has befallen South East Texas following Hurricane and now Tropical Storm Harvey, the city of Fort Worth has filed a local disaster declaration and is involved in relief efforts for those affected.
Additionally, Fort Worth received a STAR (State of Texas Assistance Request) from the State of Texas to activate shelters for evacuees and as of Tuesday, Aug. 29, the city has opened three emergency shelters which will be managed by the city and the Red Cross.
In addition to the local shelters, the city has deployed additional resources at the scene, including:
– 30 Fort Worth Fire Department officers along with equipment such as boats, ropes and SAR suits
– Fort Worth Fire five-person Chainsaw Crew
– Four Fort Worth Police Department SEER (Special Events Emergency Response) personnel, along with one vehicle and one trailer
– One Medstar Ambulance Bus (Ambus)
The Fort Worth Business Press talked with MedStar Mobile Healthcare Chief Strategic Integration Officer Matt Zavadsky about the Ambus.
How many patients can the MedStar Ambus carry? And how many medical professionals or people working with the patients would be in the bus as well?
[The Ambus] can carry up to 17 patients lying flat, and a few more if we configure it to take some sitting up and some lying flat. But generally, 17 patients. Three to four [medical professionals are usually in the bus as well].
I’ve heard the Ambus can also be used as a command center in emergency situations, how does that work?
Part of the configuration of the vehicle allows for it to be configured to sort of have little clinic rooms inside, if necessary, for some medical care. But the vehicle also has five air conditioners, so if it needs to be parked at the scene of an event to be used as a little command center for folks to have tables and a cool area to work. It also has multiple radios in it so the people working in the bus can communicate with a number of different agencies.
How big is the bus?
It’s a standard school bus size.
Has the Ambus been used in emergency situations before this?
It has. It’s been used on a couple of situations here in Fort Worth. One was during the Slide the City a couple years ago when we needed to have some cool areas for people to be able to come into because we were having some heat related issues at the site. It was also used a few years ago during the Granbury Tornadoes. We relocated patients from hospitals in Granbury to hospitals in the Fort Worth area. It’s had a couple of other deployments, but without actually transporting patients.
Who is paying for this Ambus and how much does it cost?
The vehicle was given to MedStar on a grant. We applied for the bus and the bus was provided by the North Central Texas Trauma Regional Advisory Council. It was essentially with state funds that we were able to get the bus, however the cost to operate and maintain the bus comes out of MedStar’s budget. When it’s deployed, like it is right now, there’s reimbursement through FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) to cover the cost of the deployment. The [cost] really depends on the situation and how it’s being staffed. In this situation, we sent the Ambus and seven people, so the reimbursement could vary depending on the length of the deployment and all that sort of stuff, but essentially it covers cost.
Who built the Ambus?
It was built by an east coast company called Sartin.
What exactly is the Ambus going to do to aid in Hurricane Harvey assistance?
Essentially it has been used and will likely continue to be used to relocate patients from hospitals that need to be evacuated to other hospitals or other health care facilities.
Finally, do you have any other comments about the Ambus or what MedStar is doing to help aid those affected by the hurricane and flooding?
Our personnel down there will probably be down there for at least a week and then if necessary will be rotated out with new folks. The bus was deployed Friday afternoon.
For an FAQ about Fort Worth’s assistance, please visit: http://www.fortworthbusiness.com/news/fort-worth-police-fire-medstar-deployed-for-harvey-relief/article_fd2367a6-8c24-11e7-8c84-9faef3830313.html
For updated information from the city about relief efforts, please visit: http://fortworthtexas.gov/news/2017/08/hurricane-harvey-preparations/