1,000 Items of Equipment on Unique Disaster-service Vehicle
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Believed to be the First Mobile Unit of its Kind, this American Vehicle Can Perform Most Eflicient Service in Emergencies of Vital and Grave Importance
SHOWN, in an accompanying picture, engaged in a night demonstration at the training tower of the Portland, Oregon, Bureau -of Fire, in the United States, is an unusual vehicle which is believed to be the first of its kind. It was designed, built and equipped in a period of nearly a year for use in
saving life, treating personal injuries and preventing property damage in all kinds of disasters and emergencies. Situations with which it can cope axe fires, highway accidents, aeroplane crashes, train and shipwrecks, wind storms, collapse of buildings and other structures, floods, land and snow slides, mine and tunnel cave-ins and explosions, riots, gaol breaks, failure of lighting and communication services, and threatened epidemics.
Long study of past disasters and the experience of many men in the city's fire and police departments were drawn upon in designing and equipping the vehicle, which was donated to the Bureau of Fire by Aaron M. Frank, a leading citizen. Hundreds of tools not usually available at disaster scenes, aggregating more than 1,000 items and weighing about 3 tons, are carried by the vehicle, which was designed by Messrs. Wentworth and Irwin, with the co-operation of the Bureau chiefs and captains.
The chassis was manufactured by the Kenworth Motor Truck Corporation, of Seattle, Washington, and is powered by a Hall-Scott 135 b.h.p. petrol engine; it is provided with a five-speed transmission giving a top speed of 60 m.p.h. Overall dimensions of the vehicle are :—Length, 29i ft.; height, 9i ft.; width, 95 ins. The body is constructed of high-tensile steel and aluminium, with corrugated exterior panels, and 2 ins, of glass-wool insulation between inner and outer sheathing. A squad of six specially trained firemen is ready to man the vehicle at all times, Unusually Comprehensive Range of Equipment Equipment too numerous to be itemized here—from electric generating plants and a water pump to gas masks, skis and waterproof boxes of matches— includes many specially designed devices for every kind of rescue work. The unit has a self-contained lighting plant, capable of flood-lighting a village or restoring lighting in a building when the regular service has failed, a complete emergency hospital and ambulance, with room for transporting seven injured persons simultaneously, as well as a radio receiving and broadcasting station with loud-speaker equipment. It can also serve as a temporary field kitchen. All the items are carried in interior compartments and are secured against displacement and rattling.
The electric power and light equipment and the communication system are most elaborate. The former includes a 1,500-watt stationary generator, three portable generators, for supplying 5,000 watts of current, eight powerful portable floodlights with tripods, and 1,250 ft. of lighting cable, in lengths of 50 It. to 150 ft., with twist, lock-type connections. There arc service outlets and base fixtures on the roof, and outlets on both sides of the vehicle.
The power supply can, in emergencies, be connected direct to regular wiring in _ hospitals, schools or other buildings, and light can be provided inside the vehicle by four heavy-duty projector lamps for first-aid treatment and surgical operations.
For first-aid work there are a resuscitator, inhalator, aspirator, oxygenbreathing apparatus, gas masks, stretchers, operating table, complete kit of surgical instruments and a specially designed first-aid kit.
Among the mechanical appliances are a 3-in, portable pump which is capable of drawing water a height of 28 ft, and pumping 15,000 gallons per hour, a portable acetylene cutting torch complete with accessories, five hydraulic and screw inks of 10 and 15 tons capacity, a 5 h.p. outboard boat engine and an extensive complement of hand tools for cutting, digging, smashing and lifting. An 8-ft. by 10-ft. tent is also carried for use in field work.
As instant communication is an imperative necessity in disasters, a comprehensive system is provided for receiving and transmitting messages and giving orders. The basic unit is a main power amplifier, with an output of more than 200 watts, used for supplying energy to a radio transmitter and a loud-speaker for amplifying the output of a radio receiver, microphones or telephone. The amplifying and radio equipment is operated from either of two petrol-driven generators, or from any standard alternating-current power line.
A loud-speaker of original design is mounted in the roof in a housing 50 ins, in diameter and 14 ins, high. Normally, the housing is flush with the roof, but when in use it is raised and can be turned in any direction.
A radio transmitter, that can broadcast from microphones, telephone or radio receiver, is normally used for communicating with the police radio system and with a 17i lb. portable receiving and transmitting set carried in the vehicle, but in great disasters it can also communicate with Federal, airway or amateur stations. The antenna is raised for use by compressed air, but is lowered out of the way at other times.
Although the portable receiver-transmitter is intended principally for communication with the disaster unit from within a building, mine or tunnel, messages from it have been received at a distance of 15 miles.
The main receiver in the vehicle is supplemented by a special police receiver operated from the battery and having a separate antenna. It is tuned to frequencies of the municipal police departments of Oregon State.
Of four microphones provided, one is mounted on a movable arm in the vehicle, one on a combination stand,
another is a hand unit to be carried about, and the fourth is a head telephone set. The portable instruments, with 400 ft. of cable, can be plugged in on either side of the vehicle, or into
any fire alarm box, or can be connected to a telephone line for talking with the fire department, hospital police station, or other place having telephone service.