RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL - Several residential districts in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro were left devastated after heavy rains slammed the country’s southeastern region this November. Thousands of homes were destroyed and millions more were left without power or water.  

With many residents in desperate need of medical care, Brazilian civilian defense forces quickly went into action.

In Belford Roxo, a town about 45 minutes away from Rio de Janeiro’s metro area, authorities set up two DRASH TMSS Medium Systems as a medical clinic. Doctors and nurses used the facility, which was equipped with power and air conditioning, to treat people for heat stroke, dehydration, cuts and sprains, as well as administer hundreds of vaccinations.

The TMSS Systems are part of two mobile field hospitals purchased from DRASH manufacturer DHS Systems this past summer. Though this was the first time authorities deployed any of their equipment during a real-life crisis, DRASH representatives Mark Tallo, Kevin Shirey and Scott Jackson were on hand to assist with response efforts.

After arriving in Brazil on November 16th, Shirey and Jackson performed field maintenance to ensure the systems were set up correctly. Over the next several days, the representatives continued to visit the clinic to refuel the systems’ generators and teach personnel how to operate the systems from the field.

“The doctors and nurses we worked with were extremely pleased to have the facilities. In rural areas, such as Belford Roxo, many of the roads are extremely narrow and unpaved; to transport patients would be a colossal undertaking. The TMSS Systems allowed doctors to treat patients in the field in an aseptic environment that came complete with hardened flooring, environmental control and power,” says Tallo.

Medical personnel treated nearly 10,000 people inside the medical clinic, which remained set up in Belford Roxo for a week.

Click here to watch news coverage of DRASH in Belford Roxo. (Note: Broadcast is presented in Portuguese)