Combat Support Hospital - History and Past Configurations

History and Past Configurations

In 1973 and 1974, the 28th Surgical Hospital MASH helped phase-in new designs for operating rooms and patient facilities from the previous canvas tents. Since then all MASHs and Field Hospitals have been inactivated or reconfigured to the CSH configuration. The last to convert was the 212th Field Hospital.

In 1978 the 28th Combat Support Hospital (28th CSH) was established at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, as part of the 44th Medical BDE as a MUST (Medical Unit Self Contained Transportable) Hospital. MUST was the ancestor of the current DEPMEDS design. It contained all necessary functions to provide care for 250 beds, including 2 intensive care units, 8 medical wards, emergency room, 4 operating rooms, orthopedic room, laboratory, X-ray and pharmacy. It consisted of hard containers which housed the operating rooms, laboratory, X-ray, and pharmacy. Inflatable shelters were used to provide double wall insulated areas for the patient care areas of the hospital. These "inflatables" required a power system called a Utility Pack (also known as a U-Pack or power station) to provide utility services. The Utility Pack (Power Plant, Utility, Gas Turbine Engine Driven - Libby Welding Co. Model LPU-71, Airesearch Model PPU85-5, AmerTech Co. Model APP-1, or Hollingsworth Model JHTWX10/96), powered by a centrifugal flow gas turbine engine, provided electricity (60hz AC, 400hz AC, and 24vdc), heating, air conditioning, compressed air, vacuum, and hot/cold water. At 250 beds the hospital required 8 U-Packs. Each consumed 30 gallons of jet fuel per hour. After several years of using inflatables they were abandoned in the mid 1980s, largely due to the weight of the inflatables, and the amount of fuel required just to keep the tents from collapsing.