Rachel just reported Doctors Without Borders is bringing an inflatable hospital to Haiti.

[highplainsdem]

She hadn't ever heard of one. I hadn't, either.

Wonderful innovation...

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. I am glad to hear that!

Maybe my little contribution helped make that possible...

[gateley]

5. Of course it did! Did you hear Bill Clinton saying "even if it's only a dollar,

or two dollars.." It all adds up (just like my little purchases add up to empty my wallet!)

Know that you have helped, Peggy! :hi:

[Shell Beau]

2. That is unreal! But awesome!

[Electric Monk]

3. Good news, thanks for sharing. I found this link with details.

http://doctorswithoutborders.org/news/article.cfm?cat=field-news&id=4155

More than 1,000 patients have received care in the four tented facilities MSF set up near the damaged buildings in which it had been working. The primary concern at the moment is the overwhelming numbers of people who need immediate treatment and major surgery. An MSF team is beginning to work in the operating theater of a major public hospital in the capital’s Cite Soleil district, while other MSF staff are trying to identify additional medical structures that remain intact.

An inflatable MSF field hospital, equipped with two operating theatres, is expected to arrive by air in the next 24 hours. Crucial personnel, including surgeons and anesthetists, and supplementary stocks of medical supplies are on the way as well.

more

[LakeSamish706]

8. Sorry, didn't read your post prior to posting.. ugh.... n/t

[Electric Monk]

16. no problem

[slipslidingaway]

13. I should have read your post before posting as well :) n/t

[Electric Monk]

17. no problem

[gateley]

4. Amazing -- good news! nt

[MadMaddie]

6. Pretty cool technology.

http://www.balloons.net/Inflatable_Buildings_and_Tents/index.php

[LakeSamish706]

7. For any that want the URL for Doctors without borders for donations or other....

http://doctorswithoutborders.org/

[aquart]

9. Just what I was looking for. Thank you.

My mom wants to add her mite to mine.

[LakeSamish706]

11. Your so welcome! n/t

[laughingliberal]

10. My husband just said the military has had those since just after Viet Nam

How cool is that?

[slipslidingaway]

12. A few links ...

Pakistan 2005
2:46

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5OMLs80WbU


Creating Hospitals From Thin Air

http://news.discovery.com/tech/creating-hospitals-from-thin-air.html

It's exactly what it sounds like: a temporary hospital with inflatable components that can be deployed whenever needed. Doctors Without Borders has been employing them for years, including an impressive inflatable nine-tent, 120-bed center in Pakistan following a 7.6 magnitude earthquake there in 2005. The hospital post-and-beam frames can be made from the same fabric in inflatable lifeboats. Nylon interior and exterior walls leave space for air to create an insulating effect. The Cleveland Plain Dealer created an infographic showing one kind of inflatable hospital.

...The Toronto-based organization GlobalMedic says it expects to get an inflatable hospital to Haiti by tomorrow, along with millions of water purification tablets."

[mascarax]

14. K&R...& donated

Glad Rachel is publicizing.

[LakeSamish706]

15. Thank you so much for your post, I feel very good about my donation at this point...

to Doctors without borders. There are so many great organizations at work for this country that it really does my heart good to see things happening. I only wish that we could have been there an hour after the earth quake, it would have made so much difference. The however is, we can only do our very best and I feel we have done that.

[northzax]

18. the US Army deployed them first, actually

here's a nice infographic that explains how they work : http://www.cleveland.com/business/wide/index.ssf?inflatable_hospital1101.html

[DesertRat]

19. Very cool! We donated $200. to them last night

[StarfarerBill]

20. This is why I gave my bit to DWB; they're incrediby adaptable and innovative,

as well as compassionate.

[madmax]

21. k&r

[NYC_SKP]

22. Picture of Inflatable Hospitals used in Pakistan by MSF (doctors without borders) in 2005:

MSF: Doctors Without Borders = Médecins Sans Frontières



:patriot:

:kick:

[Canuckistanian]

23. Bloody brilliant

Inflatable Operating rooms with their own power, climate control and sanitation.

A controlled environment in the middle of a chaos, without the need for a massive infrastructure.

It's like the 21st century equivalent of a MASH unit.

[Shallah Kali]

24. What a wonderful thing - sterile & more earthquake resistant than regular buildings

vital when aftershocks continue to shake anything left standing

[niyad]

25. can't rec, will kick