Insights on storage
The Crucial Role of Storage in Emergency Operations
Whether it’s firefighters reaching for their gear, police officers accessing firearms, or healthcare professionals grabbing essential medical supplies, efficient storage can be the difference between life and death. Properly organized and accessible storage solutions empower these heroes, ensuring they are always ready to respond at a moment’s notice.
Founded in 1924, Montel is a company specialized in the design and manufacture of high-density mobile storage systems for a multitude of markets, including libraries, museums, industrial warehousing, education, healthcare, public safety, military, sports and indoor vertical farming.
When you consider that even the best maintained firefighting equipment will require routine repairs and replacement, it is in the interest of any community to keep its local fire department’s gear in check. (Every firehouse will have a different budget, but the Mt. Erie Fire Department, in Washington, said it costs about $13,500 per firefighter to outfit its volunteers.)
Of course much of the wear and tear will come from fighting fires, but some of the most expensive firefighting equipment, such as breathing apparatuses, could easily be lost or damaged back at the station because of inadequate storage.
Firefighters deserve fire station storage solutions that empower a seamless emergency response, which means making it easier for them to account for gear, preserve it between calls, and organize it upon their team’s safe return to the station.
More often than not, emergency medical service providers aren’t going to know the details of an emergency until they arrive and scope it out for themselves—could be a minor injury or passing condition, or it could be something they have to control immediately and act on fast.
Many ambulance drivers and paramedics can’t even access a patient’s medical records—only about one in three can—so they have to respond to distress calls on the fly. They’ll arrive on the scene with bags of supplies, everything from testing equipment and homeostatic tools to items like gauze to medicine, to assess and respond accordingly.
As such, EMS gear and the supplies that go with paramedics need daily resupplying and inspection. An expired or missing EpiPen or naloxone spray could turn an otherwise perfect emergency response sideways. That’s why an organized EMS bag is truly a bag of wonders, and the right gear customizable bag storage can help keep first responders moving and ready for anything.
Did you know that US police departments regularly provide temporary firearm storage to aid in suicide prevention? One survey of around 500 police chiefs and sheriffs from eight states found that 75 percent of them not only offer this service but also see few barriers in implementing it broadly, which results in fewer gun-related deaths and better support for local healthcare professionals.
Apart from state regulations and on-site training, however, one crucial barrier identified by these officers was simply having enough space. Police stations are already well equipped to lock down their own equipment safely, but what they lack is the hardware needed to expand their capacity in a way that meets or exceeds their high standards for secure storage.
Mobile storage is the answer here—customizable public safety storage solutions allow officers to store more firearms securely and in an organized fashion, all in the name of protecting their communities.
No matter the circumstance, if you’re part of an emergency response or public safety team, we want to speak to you about how to bring customizable mobile storage systems for you and your community.
Contact your local Authorized Montel Distributor and ask about our free, no-obligation consultation, which includes 2D and 3D renderings of your ideal storage system.