The reasoning was, basically, that if the potentially protective areas of a hospital and/or clinic are known, and if the medical staff has been organized and trained to function as Shelter Management Teams, the medical facilities and staff not only could endure and survive, but also could continue to carry out their medical operations. Mostly for those reasons, the possibility of operating a hospital not only as a medical facility but also as a fallout shelter itself became an emergency option that at least had to be considered. Moreover, very little of the highly specialized equipment of a hospital can be moved – there just is not enough time – and the medical facilities themselves cannot be transported to another location. Once the medical and other staff personnel evacuate the hospital, they become just additional refugees in a virtual flood of humanity and can no longer function as members of organized teams. Although evacuation from the projected path of a fallout cloud is in many if not all situations a viable option for the general public, and/or for a small or medium-sized city, it is not for a hospital. Third, to train key staff personnel to implement the plan. Second, to develop a plan to organize the hospital and clinic staffs into “Shelter Management Teams” that would be capable of dealing with the threats unique to fallout radiation. First, toentify the specific areas in those buildings that would provide the best protection from radiation. Development of the fallout-shelter option involved three tasks. Working under a Metropolitan Medical Response System (MMRS) federal grant, Huntsville, Alabama, officials developed a “fallout shelter” option for three local hospitals and two clinics that would enable those facilities to continue operations during what is described as a high-level-radiation environment.
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