Trauma centers and emergency departments are strained in many U.S. cities, experts say, and hospitals are ill-prepared to handle a disaster, The Associated Press reported Sunday. "Trauma systems are never more than a couple of minor incidents from being overwhelmed," said Larry Gage, president of the National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems.

But that’s not the case in Birmingham, where local emergency medical personnel say the Birmingham Regional Emergency Medical Services System makes this area much better prepared for a mass casualty incident disaster than many larger cities.