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Some New Hospitals Were Never

Fully Equipped


All DEPMEDS sets stored for emergencies were short some critical

equipment.   For example, of the 19 hospital se~s deployed from

storage facilities in Europe, the average set contained only 60

percent of its required equipment, with one set having only 28

percent.   Missing equipment included X-ray equipment,

ventilators, defibrillators, dental equipment, and

electrocardiograph ~nitors.   Of ficials of the Army Medical

Material Agency, which is responsible for managing the DEPMEDS

and- Army medical equipment and supply, said that they had been

aware of the shortages in the DEPMEDS sets and that the missing

eq~ipment was to be sent to the units in theater in what was

~led "ship short" packages.


Sc- hospital commanders, however, complained that their units

eit?~er received their missing equipment late or never received it

at all.   One commander told us that some of the equipment his

unit received in the ship-short package was incompatible with the

unit's DEPMEDS set.   Army officials told us that equipment was

missing or incompatible with the DEPMEDS sets because the ship-

short packages had not been matched up with the DEPMEDS sets for

which they were intended.


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