The Queen's Medical Center Prepares for Terrorist Attack

Very compact when folded, QMC's portable decontamination tent quickly springs to life.

A portable decontamination tent was wheeled out of storage and rushed to The Queen's Medical Center ambulance bay. Minutes earlier, Queen's received a Code Triage stand by order to prepare for a large influx of victims requiring decontamination. Over 500 people may have been contaminated with chemical, biological or radiological weapons.

Fortunately, it was only a drill to test one of 18 portable decontamination tents purchased with federal funds to prepare for terrorist attacks. Each medical facility has its own tent. The federal government has determined that large facilities like Queen's must handle up to 500 injured or ill casualties. One possible scenario would be an attack during a sports event at the Aloha Stadium, or perhaps at a busy mall. Although Emergency Medical Service, the Honolulu Fire Department, the Honolulu Police Department and Civil Defense would converge on the scene, it is likely that many will flee and drive themselves to various hospitals.

The drill criteria was to have the portable tent and hazmat personnel ready to take in victims within an hour. The tent is just 4' x 3' x 3' when folded and weighs 250 lbs. (400 lbs. with all components.) Two people can easily pull it open, its accordion-like hinges and frame expanding to about 13 feet wide by 19 feet long and over 8 feet high in seconds. Inside, heavy canvas partitions are hung on either side for ambulatory patients, and a 20 foot conveyor for patients on backboards runs through the middle. All sections are equipped with showers. The tent can handle 30 or more people per hour.

Queen's health care technician Brigida Ryan goes through one of two side isles with multi-directional shower heads.

In a real emergency, the tent would be set up at least 500 feet away from the facility. After victims are decontaminated in the portable tent, they would be sent through Queen's permanent decontamination area at the ambulance bay for a second cleansing before entering the ER.

The Queen's team was ready to take casualties well within the one hour set up requirement. The drill was repeated the next day for more practice, and all felt a little more prepared for a disaster if it should ever happen here in Hawaii.