The purchase and assembly of 731 200-bed improvised hospitals is currently under way and a considerable number of these will be delivered to storage locations during the current fiscal year. These improvised hospitals will be made available to target areas by automatic issue. (FCDA, 1954 Annual Report, p. 70) This total is only a modest start towards the 5,000 or more estimated to be needed. (Ibid, p. 106) The first public demonstrtion of FCDA's new 200-bed improvised hospital was in 1954. (FCDA, 1954 Annual Report, p. 91) FCDA's 200-bed improvised emergency hospital was erected at the national convention of the American Hospital Association, attended by some 7,000 hospital administrators. (FCDA, 1954 Annual Report, p. 98) This 200-bed unit is intended to provide early hospitalization of seriously sick and injured casualties as close as possible to the stricken area for lifesaving, initial, and reparative treatment, and emergncy surgery. The improvised hospital can also be used in a natural disaster as well as after an enemy attack. The 200-bed improvised hsopital weighs about 13 tons, occupies about 2,000 cubic feet, consists of about 45 separate packages, crates, and bundles, and is transportable in a single van.Approximately 15,000 square feet of space are required for the hospital. It may be set up in about 4 hours by some 30 professionals and semitrained auxiliaries, with untrained volunteers helping. (FCDA, 1954 Annual Report, p. 107)