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Time for a Revolution: Smart Energy and Microgrid Use in Disaster Response

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 June 2014

David Wayne Callaway ,
Erin Noste ,
Peter Woods McCahill ,
A.J. Rossman ,
Dominique Lempereur ,
Kathleen Kaney  and
Doug Swanson
David Wayne Callaway*
Affiliation:
Department of Emergency Medicine, Division of Operational and Disaster Medicine, Carolinas Medical Center, Charlotte, North Carolina
Erin Noste
Affiliation:
Department of Emergency Medicine, Division of Operational and Disaster Medicine, Carolinas Medical Center, Charlotte, North Carolina
Peter Woods McCahill
Affiliation:
Department of Emergency Medicine, Division of Operational and Disaster Medicine, Carolinas Medical Center, Charlotte, North Carolina
A.J. Rossman
Affiliation:
SEWW Energy, Inc, Charlotte, North Carolina
Dominique Lempereur
Affiliation:
Department of Research, Lime Energy Co, Huntsville, North Carolina
Kathleen Kaney
Affiliation:
Department of Mobile Medicine, Carolinas HealthCare System, Charlotte, North Carolina
Doug Swanson
Affiliation:
Department of Mobile Medicine, Carolinas HealthCare System, Charlotte, North Carolina
*
Correspondence and reprint requests to David Wayne Callaway, MD, Carolinas Medical Center Department of Emergency Medicine, Charlotte, NC 28203 (e-mail dcallawa@gmail.com).
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Abstract

Modern health care and disaster response are inextricably linked to high volume, reliable, quality power. Disasters place major strain on energy infrastructure in affected communities. Advances in renewable energy and microgrid technology offer the potential to improve mobile disaster medical response capabilities. However, very little is known about the energy requirements of and alternative power sources in disaster response. A gap analysis of the energy components of modern disaster response reveals multiple deficiencies. The MED-1 Green Project has been executed as a multiphase project designed to identify energy utilization inefficiencies, decrease demands on diesel generators, and employ modern energy management strategies to expand operational independence. This approach, in turn, allows for longer deployments in potentially more austere environments and minimizes the unit's environmental footprint. The ultimate goal is to serve as a proof of concept for other mobile medical units to create strategies for energy independence. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2014;0:1–8)

Keywords

disaster medicineemergency preparednessfield hospitalsnatural disastersdelivery of health care
Type
Concepts in Disaster Medicine
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 8 , Issue 3 , June 2014 , pp. 252 - 259
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc. 2014 

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