New High-Tech Hospital Emergency Center Opens in Chicago

A new hospital has opened in Chicago that would be used to treat victims of a potential biological weapons strike. Let's just hope we won't need it.

"The center brings an unprecedented level of preparedness to Chicago in the event of a bioterrorist attack, a deadly pandemic or an industrial accident sending hazardous materials seeping into the streets. "

Source / Alternative source

The Robert R. McCormick Foundation Center for Advanced Emergency Response at the Rush University Medical Center incorporates three separate treatment bays that can be closed off to stem the spread of disease materials, according to a hospital press release. Each "pod" also contains patient rooms that can be similarly isolated. In addition, the movement of air within the rooms, bays and broader treatment areas can be managed to keep biological agents from dispersing.

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H.R. 2405

I don't know that this bothers me. My first knee jerk reaction is to cry foul and look at this with suspicion, but then I catch myself and remember where I spend a lot of time these days....

Particularly with reports recently surfacing of a 100% drug resistant TB strain rearing it's ugly head overseas, I can see and appreciate the need for patient wards with the ability to isolate them entirely from the outside world. I'm going to tamp down my conspiracy minded tendencies just this once and say this is probably a good idea to be ready for a variety of biological issues which may come to threaten the public as we enter a very uncertain future.