Note: This is the third article in a four-part series remembering some of North Carolina's most noteable hurricanes while highlighting some of the progress our state has made since to ensure we are better prepared for such storms. Click here for Part 1 and Part 2
Preparing for Anything
Much like the search and rescue teams, the state’s Hazardous Materials Regional Response Team (RRT) program is a system of seven teams strategically located to respond to hazardous material incidents with technical support, manpower, specialized equipment and/or supplies. Created in 1994, each team is composed of emergency response personnel who are certified and qualified to handle a wide range of hazmat incidents.
The RRTs are available to supplement local resources when an incident is beyond the first responders’ capabilities. Such incidents generally require more sophisticated equipment and hazardous materials technicians who have received a higher level of training. The team's state-of-the-art equipment and supplies are transported in a specially designed tractor-trailer truck, complete with a communications center work area in the rear of the trailer unit.
The hazmat teams respond to dozens of calls annually for assistance in incidents like the truck that overturned with 22,000 pounds of dynamite on Interstate-85 or the chemical tanker carrying ethanol that overturned in a small community prompting nearby businesses to evacuate.
Protecting Domestic and Farm Animals
Hurricane Floyd taught local and state first responders that emergency preparedness plans needed to include more than just people after more than 3 million domestic and farm animals were lost during the storm. While Floyd highlighted the need for a coordinated program to handle and house companion animals, Hurricane Katrina six years later would provide the legal and financial incentive to include domestic pets in emergency plans. Two programs were subsequently developed to help care for pets and livestock during and after disasters.
The State Animal Response Team was created as a joint effort among more than 30 state and local government and animal organizations to create a safe, quick response to emergencies that impacted livestock or large domestic pets suc
h as horses. Conversely, Companion Animal Mobile Equipment Trailers (CAMET) were designed and positioned across the state to quickly establish pet shelters so that pet owners could bring their pets with them when they evacuate. The state now has 50 CAMETs that can be deployed when the need arises; each unit holds 50-100 small pets. In addition to being used in co-sheltering situations (where people and pets are both sheltered at the same location), the CAMETs have been used in local animal welfare situations when large numbers of animals have been removed from a home or shelter.
Being Medically Equipped to Handle Disasters
North Carolina has worked with its federal, local and state partners to develop a coordinated approach to responding to disaster situations. The state’s ability to respond to the medical needs of those affected by natural and manmade disasters has greatly increased during the past 15 years. The result, a tiered system called the State Medical Response System, is comprised of state, regional and local State Medical Assistance Teams containing trained medical personnel and mobile medical equipment that can be dispatched to aid in response and recovery efforts.
The state’s Medical Disaster Hospital is an addition to North Carolina’s growing response and recovery capabilities. The portable medical center includes a surgery unit, emergency department, trauma services, clinical area, lab services and an X-ray unit. (Emergency Room is pictured above.) It can be deployed anywhere in the nation to temporarily replace a fixed or field medical facility that has been damaged. For instance, earlier this year the mobile medical center was sent to Mississippi through the Mutual Aid System to provide medical support to a community whose 41-bed hospital, medical clinics and only nursing home were destroyed by tornadoes.
###
Contact: Laura Leonard
Phone: 919-825-2599