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Disaster Preparedness
The McCormick Foundation Center for Advanced Emergency Response will play a key role in safeguarding the Chicago region's well-being in the event of a disaster.
In a major emergency, the center can expand to take in double the normal number of patients. If needed, the lobby adjacent to the center itself can be converted into a treatment area, drawing on bunk beds and oxygen lines in the lobby’s support columns.
To prevent the potential spread of disease, radioactive material or harmful agents, the center is divided into three pods, each of which can be isolated from one another. Patient rooms within each pod also can be isolated, and air flow in and out of the pods can be controlled.
As an additional measure to avoid contamination, a water “curtain” can be created from strategically positioned fire hydrants by spraying water across the entrance to the ambulance bay, so that patients can be washed off before even entering the facility. Additional decontamination equipment will be built into the walls of the ambulance bay itself. “No hospital in the country has done something like this to this degree of detail,” Rumoro says.
The center also is taking steps to anticipate and respond to health problems before they escalate into emergencies. A computer program will analyze patient data continuously in real time as it’s reported from area hospitals in order to identify potential trends and alert health officials of developing health threats.