MMU Rolls into P.G.
Tuesday, July 16, 2013 @ 3:13 PM
Interior of Mobile Medical Unit, complete with "patient" – photo 250News
Click on photo above for video clip
Prince George, B.C. – It’s called the Mobile Medical Unit, and it is visiting Prince George.
The $5 million dollar facility is a rolling 12 bed mini hospital that has all the equipment necessary to provide everything from x-rays to ultra-sounds, surgery to ICU .
The facility arrives in two trailers, one to carry all of the equipment and supplies, the other to be “the mini hospital”. There is also a “triage tent” where patients can be assessed for order of priority in treatment. Clincal Operations Director, Peter Hennecke, says it takes about 4 hours to set up the unit once it arrives on site.
Annually funded through a cost sharing agreement with the health authorities of B.C., the Mobile Medical Unit is on a road trip increasing public awareness and being used as an educational tool for local health care staff and physicians.
( at right, the interior of the supply trailer, which carries medical and mechanical supplies – photo 250News)
This week, it will be used by student volunteers from the Primary Care Paramedic program from the the Justice Institute of B.C. along with 3rd and 4th year B.Sc Nursing students from UNBC in medical simulation exercises.
The MMU is based in Delta and has most recently been used as an ICU unit for the hospital in Cranbrook as that facility’s ICU was under renovations, but it is capable of being deployed to any area of the province in the event of an emergency.
While here, the MMU will be given a good going over by the 2015 Canada Winter Games Society to see how this unit might be incorporated into the Game’s emergency planning.
The public is invited to visit the Medical Mobile Unit this evening until 8, or tomorrw from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. The MMU has been set up at the south end of the College of New Caledonia main parking lot.
The Unit will be in Prince George until Saturday morning.
Comments
Based in Delta? Considering the potential risk of a severe earthquake in that area Delta could be the last place to store it. That is supposed to be one of the more potentially damaged areas.
We definitely need this unit in Northern BC with all the fly in fly out operations in the resource sector and with on site camps housing over 2000 people.
Good… while the unit is in town maybe it could do a few surgeries and reduce wait times by a year or two!
Good to see the Provincial government is thinking pro-actively on this, it will be put to good use I’m sure.
Too bad they don’t yet have several, its a big Province. Could shave a day or two off response time to emergencies if 3 or 4 more units were strategically placed.
And what if a highway is closed between this single unit and an emergency?
metalman.
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