View source for DRASH

{{Short description|Type of field shelter}}
{{Other uses|Drash (disambiguation){{!}}Drash}}
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[[File:Agile Challenge DRASH1.jpg|thumb|Setting up a DRASH tent]]
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:DRASH Maintenance Facility in Iraq.jpg|thumb|A DRASH maintenance facility in Iraq]] -->
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Connecticut Field Hospital.JPG|thumb|The Connecticut State Field Hospital made from DRASH shelters]] -->
[[File:DRASH in Rockland County.JPG|thumb|A DRASH TMSS Large]]
'''DRASH''' ('''Deployable Rapid Assembly Shelter''') is a portable [[Geodesic dome|geodesic]] [[Shelter (building)|shelter]] that can be set up after arriving on site with no special tools. The structure is supported by composite struts.
== Design ==
DRASH shelters have footprints from {{convert|109|sqft|m2|abbr=on}} up to {{convert|1250|sqft|m2|abbr=on}}. Each DRASH shelter comes with flooring and ground covers manufactured from [[polyester]] and [[nylon]]. DRASH also provides [[Electrical generator#Engine-generator|generators]] and [[Trailer (vehicle)|trailers]] plus various accessories for the shelters themselves. Several of these accessories can be used to link shelters together. For transport or storage, the shelters pack down to into a transport bag that can be stowed on a trailer or [[HMMWV]].
== History ==
DHS Systems founder and CEO A. Jon Prusmack began building DRASH [[Shelter (building)|shelters]] after being inspired by pop-up geodesic domes he came across at trade shows.<ref name="Carlyle">{{cite web|url=http://www.lohud.com/article/20070308/CUSTOM04/70307037/Creative-Genius |title=Creative Genius &#124; The Journal News |publisher=LoHud.com |date= |access-date=2011-09-13}}</ref> He founded the company in 1984 and DRASH shelters quickly started to be purchased by military units for use as command posts, tactical operations centers, communications centers, battalion aid stations, and forward surgical support stations.<ref name="History">{{cite web |url=http://www.natick.army.mil/soldier/jocotas/ColPro_Papers/Verge.pdf |title=Rapidly Deployable Structures In Collective Protection Systems |access-date=2011-09-13 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929154200/http://www.natick.army.mil/soldier/jocotas/ColPro_Papers/Verge.pdf |archive-date=2011-09-29 }}</ref>
In 2004, the [[Carlyle Group]] invested in DHS Systems and formed its new parent company DHS Technologies.<ref name=autogenerated1>{{cite web |url=http://defense-ventures.com/carlyle-group/ |title=Carlyle Group |publisher=Defense Industry VC PE |access-date=2011-09-13 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110814113452/http://defense-ventures.com/carlyle-group/ |archive-date=2011-08-14 }}</ref> In 2009, it was reported that the company was working on a line of shelters/generators that better matched power supply to demand.
== Military use ==
The [[United States Military]] and [[NATO]] are using DRASH shelters in place of the various tents and shelters used in the past. The [[United States Department of Defense|Department of Defense]] has awarded DRASH several contracts.<ref name="CPI">[http://publicintegrity.org/wow/bio.aspx?act=pro&ddlC=15 ] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061230200819/http://publicintegrity.org/wow/bio.aspx?act=pro&ddlC=15 |date=December 30, 2006 }}</ref>
Most notably, in 2008, the U.S. Army contracted DRASH manufacturer DHS Systems and [[Northrop Grumman|Northrop Grumman Corporation]] to provide a family of trailer-mounted support systems under its Standard Integrated Command Post System (SICPS) program. Under the contract, DHS is manufacturing DRASH shelters, while Northrop will be responsible for program management and integrated logistics support.<ref name="SICPS">{{cite web|url=http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Security-Industry/2008/06/18/NG-DHS-Technologies-to-support-SICPSTMSS/UPI-57811213812923/ |title=NG, DHS Technologies to support SICPS/TMSS |publisher=UPI.com |date=2008-06-18 |access-date=2011-09-13}}</ref>
DRASH shelters have been deployed extensively since the beginning of the wars in [[Iraq War|Iraq]] and [[War in Afghanistan (2001–present)|Afghanistan]]. DRASH is also currently in use with troops stationed around the world, including the [[United States Army Central|Third Army]] in Kuwait,<ref name="Third Army">{{cite web|url=http://www.dvidshub.net/?script=news/news_show.php&id=44630 |title= Smaller, Faster, Better | work = News |publisher=DVIDS |date=2010-01-30 |access-date=2011-09-13}}</ref> and [[Joint Task Force Bravo]]'s Mobile Surgical Team in [[Honduras]].<ref name="Honduras">{{cite web |url=http://www.southcom.mil/AppsSC/news.php?storyId=2010 |title=United States Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM) - NEWS |publisher=Southcom.mil |date=2009-12-14 |access-date=2011-09-13 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928211618/http://www.southcom.mil/AppsSC/news.php?storyId=2010 |archive-date=2011-09-28 }}</ref> DRASH has [[logistics]] teams on site in [[Iraq]], [[Kuwait]], [[Germany]] and [[Eastern Europe]]. These teams do all of the repair and support work for the shelters, generators and trailers.
== Civilian use ==
[[Hurricane Katrina]] caused a surge of interest in DRASH shelters. In [[Louisiana]], an emergency medical team used a DRASH shelter as a mobile hospital.<ref name="doctors">{{cite web|url=http://www.medpagetoday.com/PublicHealthPolicy/PublicHealth/tb2/4033 |title=Medical News: Doctors Within Borders | work = Public Health & Policy, Public Health |publisher=MedPage Today |date= September 2006|access-date=2011-09-13}}</ref> In Mississippi, DRASH shelters were used as living quarters for the State Police aiding victims of the disaster. DRASH shelters have been deployed following hurricanes across the Gulf region, as well as for other civilian operations around the country.
In 2006, the state of [[Connecticut]] dedicated a DRASH [[field hospital]] to a victim of the [[2001 anthrax attacks]].<ref name="fieldhosp">http://www.reevesems.com/userfiles/File/News/emsinsidersummer06.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=March 2022}}</ref> DRASH shelters were also used by the National Guard during the October 2007 California Wildfires, Middletown’s Office of Emergency Management and the state’s Department of Public Health following the [[2010 Connecticut power plant explosion]] and Dell Children's Medical Center during the [[2009 flu pandemic]].<ref name="H1N1">{{cite web|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/kids-with-h1n1-camp-out-at-hospital/ |title=Kids with H1N1 Camp Out at Hospital |work=CBS News |date= |access-date=2011-09-13}}</ref> Additionally, international agencies have purchased DRASH to support emergency response. In the summer of 2009, the Brazilian State of [[Rio de Janeiro]] purchased two DRASH mobile field hospitals to be deployed during large-scale emergencies.<ref name="Brazil">[http://www.hstoday.us/content/view/9673/187/]{{dead link|date=September 2011}}</ref>
== References ==
{{reflist}}
== External links ==
* {{official website|http://www.drash.com/}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080517001444/http://www.armedforces.co.uk/releases/raq42a57f0a78274 DRASH Shelters] at Armedforces.co.uk
[[Category:Disaster management tools]]
[[Category:Post–Cold War military equipment of the United States]]