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Calamityville, Ohio
By Bob Rhoades
Yup, that’s what they call it. It’s not really a city but more of
a thought process coming into reality and it’s pretty close to our
backyard, in Fairborn. The thought process is quickly becoming a
reality on the old Cemex site on 235. Since it was used to build
concrete appurtenances of all types there was a dust problem to be
dealt with. Most of that is cleaned up and a lot of classes have
already been taught by permanent as well as adjunct faculty.
Officially it’s known as the National Center for Medical Readiness in
the Boonshoft School of Medicine at Wright State University. The
National Center for Medical Readiness (NCMR) is a community-wide effort
to better prepare our community for large scale emergencies, such as a
weather disaster, terrorist attack or hazmat situation.
The large silos that used to contain cement now serve as anchor points
for rappelling down and as an excellent place to practice Confined
Space Rescue. Another added feature is this airplane which “flew”
into the silos creating a nightmare rescue problem to be dealt
with. The yard area is large enough to accommodate most any
training scenario imaginable. The warehouse is home to the Metro
Emergency Medical System stockpile. This asset is being developed
and consists of 7 semi-trailers each carrying a complete hospital
capable of sustaining operation for 72 hours without being
resupplied.
Since there are 10 counties in Ohio without the advantage of a hospital
a disaster could severely devastate the area and this would be a
valuable asset. Additionally a disaster in any area which
overloaded the current medical facilities would cause the asset to be
activated. Training will be done on the asset and Standard
Operating Procedures have been in development.
Classroom space has been reconstructed from the former office building
offering an excellent place to learn. Current staff instructors
include current and former firefighters and paramedics as well as many
medical personnel. Mark E. Gebhart, M.D. is the Director of the
facility.
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