JOPLIN, MO – Within hours after the storm passed, military and disaster-relief shelter manufacturer DHS Systems LLC, dispatched a DRASH TMSS Medium to assist local authorities with search and rescue efforts after an EF-5 tornado with winds up to 200 mph swept through Joplin, Missouri on the evening of Sunday, May 22^nd.

Faced with the task of searching the heavily-damaged city, responders quickly went into action. Personnel from the Carthage Fire Department, a neighboring mutual aid department, helped set up a DRASH TMSS Medium shortly after its arrival just outside the 17^th street command center. “The first-responders in Joplin, who are also affected by the disaster are doing amazing work and we wanted to help them with their efforts,” said Mark Williams, a Business Development Representative for the company and former resident of the area. 

“Initially we set-up the TMSS Medium to serve as a triage area for incoming injured civilians then it was converted to a life support area for hundreds of law enforcement personnel who had not eaten or slept in 2 days,” said Williams. “The law enforcement personnel were finally able to get some much needed rest and a warm meal in a spacious and climate-controlled environment that immediately met their requirements. They were extremely thankful for our response,” he says. 

Part of the U.S. Army’s Standard Integrated Command Post System (SICPS), the TMSS Medium is a mobile, rapidly deployable system that integrates shelter, mobility, environmental control and power in one complete package. The TMSS Medium that was fielded by Joplin rescuers provides more than 442 square feet of usable space, includes a 5 Ton ECU (Environmental Control Unit), and allows for the use of up to 18 kW of power that can be made instantly available on any site. 

Considered the deadliest tornado in the U.S. since modern record-keeping began in the 1950s, about one-third of the town of Joplin remains in complete ruins, with the preliminary damage report showing approximately 7,000 homes and apartments destroyed, hundreds more damaged, more than 500 commercial properties, either damaged or destroyed and a total affected population of over 12,000 people.