Emergency agencies get mass casualty trailers

Representatives from six Chicago-area emergency management agencies gathered in Wheaton Friday to collect one of six mass casualty trailers.

Each trailer comes with 96 cots that could be used if officials need to set up temporary shelter during a terrorist attack or natural disaster.

All the trailers and equipment were purchased $49,000 in grant money from the Illinois Terrorism Task Force.

Tom Mefferd, director of the DuPage County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, said the grant originally was issued to his agency two years ago to help pay for the development of an anti-terrorism training program.

But the grant, which expired this year, hadn't yet been used for the project. So Mefferd said his agency got permission to use the money to buy the trailers for the six county emergency management agencies.

In addition to DuPage, county emergency management agencies in Kane, Will, Lake, McHenry and Cook counties also received trailers and cots.

"This just gives us more capability to service our residents in case of a disaster," Mefferd said. "But we hope never to have to use them."