INDIANAPOLIS (WTHR) - Dozens of volunteers from central Indiana were working to help with hurricane relief efforts right here from home Sunday.
The American Red Cross joined Indianapolis EMS and the MESH Coalition to put together a multi-agency tactical facility.
It's a five-tent system that can provide support as a hospital or be used as a command center in an emergency.
But this isn't like a tent you pitch in your backyard.
It's a waterproof, fully heated or air-conditioned facility with a floor.
"Most of these volunteers are folks in our community who knew we needed help in the hurricanes,” explained Chad Priest of the Indiana Red Cross as the tent was going up. “(They) said ‘hey I'd like to volunteer’ and here they are.”
Volunteers were trained on how to set up the facility.
If the tent facility needs to be set up in Indiana in the coming years, the volunteers will already be trained.
Once the facility is finished, inspectors will check it out. And if it's good to go, they'll carefully re-package it for potential deployment.