By MaryHelen Swanson

ìGod forbid we ever have a mass casualty,î said Chisago County Homeland Security and Emergency Management director James Halstrom at the Sept. 7 county board meeting.

His statement came after the county board approved Chisago County as the fiscal agent for the purchase of a deployable morgue system.

A deployable morgue is 100 percent portable and is ready for use at all times. It is fully independent from, yet fully integrated with, federal deployable morgue units.

It includes equipment and instruments for forensic and mortuary science work such as photography, pathology, dental, anthropology, radiology, fingerprints, DNA and embalming.

It also includes equipment to support morgue operations such as lighting, sinks, hot water heaters, autopsy tables, x-ray processors, administrative supplies, computers, partitioning, personal protective equipment, specialty tools, fans, and more.

If the state had one now, noted Halstrom, it would most likely be requested for use in the south where Hurricane Katrina hit. By being the fiscal agent, there is no cost to the county, after reimbursement, but the county would be able to make use of the deployable morgue in the event it was needed.

As Halstrom noted, up to now, Chisago Countyís plan for handling mass casualty is that 1-7 fatalities are handled by the county coroner at Regina Hospital in Hastings.

Fatalities from 8-34 would be handled by a temporary morgue set up within the county (probably at the highway department where open bays and utilities would best accommodate such a set-up), and more than 35 fatalities would be handled by the morgue at Minneapolis International Airport.

In addition to logistics, in order to deal with mass casualty under the current plan, it would involve the purchase and maintenance of forensic equipment and other materials, Halstrom said, that would require maintenance that is not feasible for Chisago County.

He also noted that the morgue at the Minneapolis airport might not be available for use by Chisago County or any other county in the event of a mass casualty incident.

Halstrom noted that the deployable morgue system for statewide use was first developed by the state of Ohio and has since been developed in Michigan and Indiana.

Minnesota, with the help of Chisago County and a Homeland Security grant, could be one of the leaders in the nation in this endeavor.

Shawn Wilson, an investigator for the Chisago County coroner, has been coordinating the development of this system for Minnesota. Through his efforts, Halstrom noted, the Minnesota Department of Health has agreed to house and maintain the system for statewide use.

The cost of the equipment and the trailers to house it is $543,650. The Minnesota Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management has turnback funds from the 2003 state and federal homeland security grant to pay the total cost of the system.

Chisago County becomes involved because a requirement of the grant is that the system must be purchased by a local unit of government.

Chisago County would receive full reimbursement from the state of Minnesota, according to the resolution. The county board unanimously approved the participation by Chisago County as fiscal agent.

ìItís a great opportunity to take advantage of available funds,î Halstrom said.

Of the boardís support he said, ìI appreciate it, the state of Minnesota appreciates it.î

ìThis puts us in the forefront,î he concluded.

The state hopes to secure the system this fall, he noted.

In related matters, Bette Frederichs, director of Public Health, updated the board on efforts to offer assistance to hurricane victims at Camp Ripley.

She noted that FEMA had put the transport of several thousand victims to Minnesota on hold.

She also noted that Chisago County was prepared to send public health personnel to the camp to assist in the care of the victims, including health assessments.

Frederichs was not sure if there would be FEMA reimbursement for this service, but Commissioner Lynn Schultz said the county should pay for it because it is the right thing to do. If there would be federal reimbursement, all the better.

County Board chairman Bob Gustafson offered thanks to the Public Health staff for being willing to do this work, if needed.

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