Emergency medicine personnel will erect large tent city as an alternate care site in case of pandemic, terrorist attack, regional disaster
MAYWOOD -- The recent outbreak of the H1N1 virus is a reminder that a major, global disaster could occur at any moment.
As part of preparations to respond to such a disaster, Loyola University Medical Center and 12 other Chicago area hospitals will practice erecting a 5,000-square-foot tent city as part of a mass-casualty exercise.
The exercise takes place from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, June 27 in the Kansas Parking Lot at Hines VA Hospital, 2100 S. Fifth Ave., Hines, Ill., which is located adjacent to Loyola University Medical Center, 2160 S. First Ave., Maywood.
The tents will be staffed with emergency medicine personnel and can be used in the case of earthquakes, regional flooding, large hazardous materials spills, epidemics, terrorist attacks and other disasters. The tents are self-contained, mobile, have heating and air conditioning capacity and can be configured to fit the needs of the incident. Several of the tents can be set up to prevent bacteria, viruses and other potentially deadly contagions from escaping through open doors and windows.
Participating will be Loyola University Hospital, Adventist Bolingbrook Hospital, Adventist Hinsdale Hospital, Adventist La Grange Memorial Hospital, Riveredge Hospital, Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital, Elmhurst Memorial Hospital, Gottlieb Memorial Hospital, Rush Oak Park Hospital, Adventist GlenOaks Hospital, Resurrection West Suburban Medical Center, Resurrection Westlake Hospital, Shriners Hospital for Children and Hines VA Hospital.
Opportunities for photographs of tent city and interviews with emergency medicine personnel. Contact Perry Drake in Loyola Media Relations, (708) 216-7940. Cell: (708) 441-7736.
Loyola University Health System (LUHS) is a member of Trinity Health. Based in the western suburbs of Chicago, LUHS is a quaternary care system with a 61-acre main medical center campus, the 36-acre Gottlieb Memorial Hospital campus and more than 30 primary and specialty care facilities in Cook, Will and DuPage counties. The medical center campus is conveniently located in Maywood, 13 miles west of the Chicago Loop and 8 miles east of Oak Brook, Ill. The heart of the medical center campus, Loyola University Hospital, is a 569-licensed-bed facility. It houses a Level 1 Trauma Center, a Burn Center and the Ronald McDonald® Children’s Hospital of Loyola University Medical Center. Also on campus are the Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center, Loyola Outpatient Center, Center for Heart & Vascular Medicine and Loyola Oral Health Center as well as the LUC Stritch School of Medicine, the LUC Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing and the Loyola Center for Fitness. Loyola's Gottlieb campus in Melrose Park includes the 264-licensed-bed community hospital, the Professional Office Building housing 150 private practice clinics, the Adult Day Care, the Gottlieb Center for Fitness, Loyola Center for Metabolic Surgery and Bariatric Care and the Loyola Cancer Care & Research at the Marjorie G. Weinberg Cancer Center at Melrose Park.