LAKEMOOR, Ill. (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- A northwest suburban company is turning fire safety education trailers into resources that can be used in the age of COVID.
When the coronavirus pandemic hit, Lakemoor's JHB Group, in the Chain-o-Lakes area, decided to switch gears and adapt, for use in COVID-response, the mobile trailers it once made for fire departments and other emergency response agencies to educate the public on fire safety.
President and CEO Chris Gantz, a retired Skokie firefighter, said the trailers can be used for drive-thru testing, mobile testing, mass vaccination when that arrives, as well as using it for point of distribution for handing out equipment and PPE.
Gantz said he has a number of active and retired firefighters working for him to help distribute the trailers.
He said that at first, he thought his company might get one or two orders but he’s actually been in high demand, with backlogged orders from six months with more than 30 orders for trailers.
“Our first one was delivered to an Indian nation in South Carolina that has a healthcare need with regards to COVID on the reservation,” Gantz said.
Gantz said the trailers are 23 and 27 feet long and cost about $100,000 each.
He said the trailers will not have to be mothballed after the pandemic is in the rear-view mirror.
“You can use it for an aid station at the county festival or fair or state fair," he said. "You can use it for Incident Command. You could use it for blood pressure and TB testing down the road.”
Gantz said the trailers are solar charging, have iPad control, UVA disinfectant lights and are ADA accessible.