- ALEXANDRIA, Va. (PRNewswire)
-- Three northern Virginia companies today announced plans to assemble
a prototype facility outside of Pittsburgh next month that could be used
for isolating patients in the event of a terrorist attack with weapons
of mass destruction, containing a SARS outbreak, or providing shelter for
victims of natural disasters.
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- Assembly of the approximately 6,000 square-foot, 150-bed
building, called an Emergency Isolation and Treatment System (EITS), will
begin in mid-August and will be open to the public during the last week
of August.
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- The Daedalus Project, Inc., of Alexandria, Va., (www.daedalusproject.com)
developed the polymer composite panels to meet the requirement for low-cost
housing in developing countries. Corporate partners in the project include
AT&T Government Solutions, of Vienna, Va., which is providing leading
edge voice and data communications, and Radian, Inc., also of Alexandria,
Va., which is providing engineering and technical support. The group is
currently seeking a hospital supply company to join the consortium.
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- The EITS project is part of federally-funded effort that
is being conducted through the Allegheny County Bureau of Emergency Service,
and RISC, Inc., a non- profit organization located in the county. The prototype
will be assembled on the grounds of a Westinghouse facility in Monroeville,
Pa., outside of Pittsburgh.
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- The companies involved said the EITS, a 150-bed prototype
of a 500-bed facility, could be used to provide observation, quarantine,
isolation, and treatment to victims of weapons of mass destruction, outbreaks
of infectious diseases (such as SARS), temporary shelter in the event of
a natural disaster, and a variety of other purposes for which the facility
will be evaluated. The lightweight polymer panels used to construct the
facility are easily assembled and have applicability to a broad range of
structures, both temporary and permanent. They are impervious to all types
of infestation and contamination and may be re-used or recycled. Additionally,
EITS is field-site deployable.
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- "This government-funded effort is based, among other
things, upon the simple economic notion that response to emergencies implies
recovery, which entails costs," said Dr. Edward McCulloch, president
of Daedalus. He pointed out that the cost to decontaminate the Hart Senate
Office building after the anthrax contamination were estimated to be upwards
of $30 million and that the Brentwood mail facility in Washington, D.C.
has yet to reopen and the costs are not yet known.
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- "The prevailing approach of pressing schools, public
buildings or sports complexes into service in the event of emergency is
very costly," he said. "Similarly, the fragile economic profile
of many hospitals makes them very vulnerable to the impact of contaminating
emergency wards or the loss of revenue from having to close a section during
long-term reconstruction. Those events could also have devastating effects
upon hospital insurers. The costs of the fully-functional emergency isolation
and treatment facility are anticipated to be less than 5 percent of a modern
hospital."
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- "Communications and information sharing are essential
components of any emergency facility," said Michael Polmar, AT&T
Government Solutions sales vice president, National Information Systems.
"That's where AT&T Government Solutions comes in. Our experience
as a solutions integrator and networking leader is invaluable for projects
requiring the full range of IT capabilities. We believe this temporary
building approach is a very viable alternative for public officials trying
to respond and prepare for a range of requirements that will be evaluated
within this facility -- including temporary command and control centers."
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- Radian's President, Richard P. Dacey, said, "Radian
is delighted to participate in this project and to coordinate all aspects
of the non-medical life support systems. We intend to assist in developing
the full national potential of this most valuable and essential project."
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- In preparation for next month's construction, a prototype
section of the EITS has been assembled and is undergoing modification at
the Radian facility in Newington, Va.
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- Other participants in the EITS project are Composite
Technologies Company LLC of Dayton, Ohio; Alban Cat (Caterpillar) Rental
Solutions of Elkridge, Md.; Optimus Corp. of Silver Spring, Md.; Marconi's
Broadband Routing & Switching group, headquartered in Pittsburgh; Avaya
Inc., of Basking Ridge, N.J.; StageRight, Inc. of Clare, Mich.; and Dialogic
Communications of Franklin, Tenn.
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- AT&T Government Solutions, headquartered in Vienna,
Va., is a long-standing, trusted source of information technology solutions
for federal, state and local governments, integrating unmatched network
resources and professional service expertise with innovative technologies
from AT&T Labs and industry-leading partners. Best known for network
leadership in voice, data, video and managed services, AT&T Government
Solutions is a proven solutions integrator, with professional service expertise
in areas such as enterprise architecture, business transformation, knowledge
management, training, program management, systems engineering and security.
www.att.com/gov.
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- Radian Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Engineered
Support Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: EASI - News) is a defense contractor supplying
advanced systems integration, physical security and access control, and
logistic support, with its corporate offices located in Alexandria, Va.
Radian is a recognized leader, providing full-service engineering and logistic
support to the U.S. Defense Department for electrical power systems, environmental
control systems, water supply/distribution systems and fully-integrated
systems for detection and mitigation of weapons of mass destruction. Radian
designs and manufactures mobile and air transportable 1Mw power generation
and distribution solutions for the military. Radian www.radian.com maintains
several GSA Schedules for government procurement and access to its technical
services.
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- Source: The Daedalus Project, Inc.; AT&T Government
Solutions; Radian Inc.
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- http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030724/nyth139_1.html
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