Parked at hospitals and secret locations across the region, dozens of trailers are jam-packed with hundreds of cots, masks, gowns and other medical supplies.
Except for routine inspection, the doors to many are never opened and haven’t been widely used since Kansas City-area emergency planners acquired them nearly two decades ago with federal assistance. Only a few have ever rolled out. Once to provide aid after an ice storm in St. Louis, and once to help out New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina nearly 15 years ago.
Now, for the first time the hospital trailers — and all the planning and coordination in the bi-state disaster response process they support — might be needed for an expected surge in coronavirus cases in eastern Kansas and western Missouri.
(Read more: KC Star Local News)
