Photo By Tech. Sgt. Andrew Schumann | DEARBORN, Mich. - Staff Sgt. Lauren McGregor, a power production technician with the...... read more read more
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DEARBORN, Mich.-- Thirteen members of the Michigan National Guard's 127th Wing, out of Selfridge Air National Guard Base, Michigan, assisted in opening a drive-through COVID-19 testing site here Monday, when they brought in generators and electrical power support assets to run the mobile facilities. The CVS testing site, located in the parking lot of Dearborn's Henry Ford Centennial Library, was ready for patients only three days after the state of Michigan received the request for National Guard assistance.
“[Our] power production people came out... got everything set up, so when CVS was ready to turn on the power... they flipped a switch and everything worked,” Col. David Spehar, 127th Wing Emergency Operations Center Director and 127th Maintenance Group Commander, said. “This is a great example of how the Guard is always ready, any time, and any place.”
Staff Sgt. Lauren McGregor, a power production technician with the 127th Civil Engineering Squadron, is on her third COVID-19 response mission with the Michigan Air National Guard. Reassigned from the TCF Center last Friday, responded to the call to support the Dearborn testing site on Saturday morning.
“The goal here is to keep the power on,” Staff Sgt. McGregor said of the 24-hour operation. “The test equipment has to be maintained at a certain temperature, which means the generators need to run 24 hours per day, seven days a week.”
In addition to power support, members onsite are facilitating patient check-ins by verifying appointments when vehicles arrive. Since opening April 20, 2020, the testing site has seen between 400 and 500 vehicles per day, with the first hour dedicated to testing first responders.
“This is a great melding of the civilian community, and the military, working together to get it done,” Spehar said. “We live in these communities, this is where we grew up, and [our local military members] are able to serve now assisting the community, so I think it’s a great synergy.”
Nearly 800 Michigan National Guard members have been called to active service to aid Michigan’s response since March 18. The Michigan National Guard has nearly 6,000 additional members ready to assist at the request of Michigan’s communities.
| Date Taken: | 04.24.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 04.27.2020 13:59 |
| Story ID: | 368531 |
| Location: | SELFRIDGE AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, MICHIGAN, US |
| Web Views: | 61 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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