In February 2010, BLU-MED Response Systems donated a 50-bed mobile hospital in the city of Léogâne, Haiti. This was in response to the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that devastated Léogâne and neighboring capital city of Port-Au-Prince on January 12th, 2010. The air-conditioned mobile hospital provided 4,500 square feet of floor space and was supported through the Medical Benevolence Foundation and Worldwide Village organizations.

The absence of lifting equipment or electrical power did not delay construction, which was completed in less than two days without any special tools or equipment. The facility was rapidly erected by two BLU-MED® personnel with an 8-man team of unskilled laborers from the local community. Working throughout the day, they seemed undaunted by the tropical humidity and 96 degree Fahrenheit heat. Physicians staffing the mobile hospital agreed that air conditioning was vital to treat patients and air conditioning contributed to their recovery. Anchored to the ground on top of a wooden floor, the mobile hospital readily withstood the hurricane force winds and rain that Haiti experienced during the following several months.

With the Léogâne hospital destroyed in the earthquake, the BLU-MED mobile hospital was greatly needed. The mobile hospital provides emergency care, outpatient treatment, surgery and postoperative care, as well as an inpatient ward for up to 30 persons.

BLU-MED Response Systems, a division of Alaska Structures, Inc., is The World’s Leader in Deployable Medical Facilities™. BLU-MED provides turnkey, portable shelter-based solutions for a wide range of applications including full service hospitals with alternate EOC, CBRNE, triage, isolation, immunization, decontamination, emergency rooms (ER), operating rooms (OR), intensive care units (ICU), burn unit, and mortuaries, mobile hospitals, alternate command centers, temporary housing and base camp requirements for hospital expansion, surge capacity, and emergency disaster preparedness and response. BLU-MED also offers support services including a full range of medical equipment packages, vendor managed inventory, field deployment, and training & exercise support. For more information, visit the BLU-MED Response Systems website.

Alaska Structures (AKS) designs, engineers and delivers the highest quality fabric building systems for extreme environments. Since it was founded in 1975, over 50,000 AKS shelters have been tested and proven in over 85 countries around the world, including more than 28,000 Alaska Military Shelters and 6,500 Alaska Environmental Control Units in Afghanistan and Iraq. For more information, visit the Alaska Structures website, or call a representative at +1-888-680-7181 or 425-739-2795.

Equality, education, healthcare and job training are just a few areas to improve the impoverished quality of life. Unfortunately it is difficult for people to either find or seek medical attention, attend school or go to work when they are malnourished, ill or are taking care of family members. Healthcare is one of the components that more humanitarian aid organizations should incorporate into their campaigns to end poverty.

A BLU-MED mobile hospital can be used in a variety of ways from check-ups and immunizations to advanced level care and surgeries. Depending on the humanitarian aid organization’s need, the mobile hospital can be portable or permanent.

Each BLU-MED mobile hospital is engineered to withstand winds of up to 100 MPH and snow loads of up to 20 pounds per square foot. If your location requires higher wind and snow loads, contact us so that our engineers can design a mobile hospital to meet your needs.

One key component of operating a successful medical facility in the field, and especially in disaster-stricken areas is having the ability to keep the medical facility at a constant temperature. This creates a comfortable environment for both the healthcare providers and patients. BLU-MED Response Systems produces its own ruggedized HVAC (heating and cooling) system for extreme environments. Available in US or European voltages (50-60Hz), the BLU-MED mobile medical facility can be deployed anywhere in the world.

For more information on BLU-MED mobile hospitals, please contact BLU-MED at +1-888-680-7181.