Bring in the Army
Army Engineers Help Reinstate Cardiac Care Services at Memorial Hermann

Doctors in scrubs and Army officers in fatigues worked side by side last month, when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers sent its finest electrical experts to help reinstate vital heart-related services to Memorial Hermann Hospital.

The remnants of Tropical Storm Allison brought floodwaters that wiped out all five of the hospital's cardiac catheterization laboratories, which were housed in the basement and valued at $15 million. To bridge the gap before new labs are built, the Army is loaning Memorial Hermann an electrical transformer to power two mobile cardiac cath labs located in the hospital's parking lot. The Federal Emergency Management Agency coordinated efforts to secure the transformer.

Dr. S. Ward Casscells, chief of cardiology at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston and Memorial Hermann Hospital - UT-Houston's primary teaching hospital, said the reinstatement of cardiac catheterization services is crucial, because Memorial Hermann reopened July 17.

"You can't have a hospital without a cardiac cath lab. Heart attacks don't stop for floods," he said.

Cardiac cath labs enable doctors to make definitive diagnoses of cardiovascular conditions. Dye is pumped into patients' veins and arteries, pressures are measured, and X-rays and other images are taken. Often, patients can be treated immediately upon diagnosis in the lab with an angioplasty or standard pacemaker. More involved cases are sent for open-heart surgery.

Each of Memorial Hermann's two mobile cath labs can easily treat six patients a day, Dr. Casscells said, and that number can be doubled with no problem.

"We're back in business," he said. "These two mobile units and the transformer are a Godsend."

Sgt. 1st Class Ed Dawe from the Army's 249th Engineer Batalion in Fort Lewis, Wash., said the transformer will remain at Memorial Hermann until Oct. 1, and longer if needed. Such transformers are commonly used by the Army in times of war to supply power to large base camps. The one at Memorial Hermann provided power to U.S. Army base camps in the Middle East during Desert Storm.

Specifically, the transformer converts electrical power supplied by Reliant Energy to a voltage level that is usable in the mobile cath labs, Dawe explained.

"The transformer is `stepping down' incoming power from 4,160 volts to 480 volts - the amount needed to operate the labs," he said. "While 4,160 volts may be needed to run the entire Memorial Hermann Hospital, it would overpower the two mobile cath labs."Mobile cardiac cath labs are safe and reliable, Dr. Casscells added. "Although they are temporary labs, they still must meet all the local electrical codes for Houston and the national electrical code," he said. "These labs are every bit as reliable as Memorial Hermann's new cath labs, which, when finished, won't be in the basement."

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©2006 Texas Medical Center

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