Joplin’s Mercy Hospital Rises from the Rubble

Here’s how a hospital in Joplin, Mo., is recovering from the massive tornado that struck two years ago.

Bartz’s Lessons Learned:

  • “In the new building, our generators are going to be subterranean, as well as the fuel tanks.” [Note: Although this suggestion is appropriate for tornado-prone areas, it is not appropriate for areas subject to flooding.]
  • Windows will now be laminated so they can withstand stronger winds. “If you keep the wind out of the building, your building is not going to have nearly the damage.”
  • “In the new hospital, the main part will be shielded by the clinic area.”
  • “We will also have two basement areas so we have a lot more room to get patients and staff [in there] in case we ever get hit again.”
  • Have electronic patient records that are backed up remotely. “On the night of the tornado when we had to transfer patients out, our records were still available on servers located in Washington, Mo. It made the transfer of patients much easier rather than having to search through paper charts.”
  • Develop a good method of inventory control. “You’ve got to know what you have in that building. Someone’s got to keep track of every piece of equipment: furniture, artwork on the walls, etc.”
  • “[In the old facility,] all of our DVRs were on UPSes, but what we hadn’t thought about was the fact that the majority of our cameras had power supplies located in remote areas. We didn’t have those on UPSes. Even though the DVRs kept recording, there was nothing to record because most of the cameras went down almost immediately. The tornado first hit about a mile west of town, so we started losing power poles out there, and one of our electrical feeds came from the west side of town, so we started losing things in some of our smaller buildings. Backup power is essential for all of your systems.”

Wampler’s Lessons Learned:

  • “We’ve put grab bags together and put them on every floor throughout the hospital. They have flash lights, duct tape and other necessities you might need to get to quickly.”
  • Have contact information of the highway department or city so you can quickly obtain the orange temporary fencing used at construction sites. The fencing deters intruders, looters and drug seekers.
  • “We practice and practice fire drills and tornado drills. We had a tornado drill just a week before this happened, but it never really prepares you for what takes place when it really happens. Most of our staff acted on what they learned and it saved lives, but you just have to shoot from the hip.”

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About the Author

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Robin has been covering the security and campus law enforcement industries since 1998 and is a specialist in school, university and hospital security, public safety and emergency management, as well as emerging technologies and systems integration. She joined CS in 2005 and has authored award-winning editorial on campus law enforcement and security funding, officer recruitment and retention, access control, IP video, network integration, event management, crime trends, the Clery Act, Title IX compliance, sexual assault, dating abuse, emergency communications, incident management software and more. Robin has been featured on national and local media outlets and was formerly associate editor for the trade publication Security Sales & Integration. She obtained her undergraduate degree in history from California State University, Long Beach.

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