The second component of this proposal is directed at using a high-speed infrastructure to support the delivery of care for mass casualties. Any event that creates mass casualties will strain the health delivery capabilities of the state. The current influenza outbreak has crippled the capabilities of Anne Arundel hospitals to handle elective surgeries and induced births. The situation exists since local and state facilities currently do not have a reserve surge capability to deliver quality care for large numbers of casualties. A likely candidate for an auxiliary care delivery would be schools.
Schools have food production and delivery capabilities along with bathroom and shower facilities.
Another feature that many of the more modern schools have is good telecommunications connectivity for distance learning. This feature would be invaluable for supporting the delivery of care for mass casualties. It could be used by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to direct medical services and supplies to the sites and to deliver health care directives. Teleconferencing with the Maryland Emergency Management Agency would be used for requesting Federal assets to support health delivery and to direct other services like law enforcement, the National Guard, and transportation for the site needs. Care delivery within the auxiliary sites would be enhanced by use of mobile video teleconferencing within the school.