The Metropolitan Medical Response System (MMRS) was established in the city of Glendale, Ariz., to enhance local operational response capabilities to mass-casualty incidents, public-health emergencies or terrorist attacks. In 2006, the Glendale Fire Department augmented its MMRS by acquiring a 26-foot Freightliner box truck with a Morgan insulated van body and a Thermo King refrigeration unit.

The primary use for the truck is logistics. Glendale’s MMRS currently has four mass-casualty medical modules, and each contains supplies for up to 100 patients. Three of these modules are packed and stored in the truck.

However, the most important use for the refrigerated truck is to assist with transporting nerve-agent antidote that would be needed in the event of a WMD attack. Glendale’s MMRS can deliver supplies to surrounding areas, and if the antidotes had to be transported throughout the state, it would be necessary to maintain the appropriate temperature for the pharmaceutical cache, a task made more challenging by the region’s oppressive summer heat.

Finally, whether it is a plane crash, terrorist attack, or pandemic, fatalities are expected during a disaster. The refrigerated truck can serve as a temporary morgue until other arrangements can be made; hence the name, “the morgue truck.” This may be on scene at a train crash during an initial response when patients are being triaged, or it may be the first resource available to a town after an earthquake.

Jannine Wilmoth is the MMRS program coordinator for the Glendale (Ariz.) Fire Department.