"If we have enough patients coming in or enough critical patients then we deem that we need the disaster plan activated," says Sheryl Krause of St. Mary's Hospital.

It's they way emergency response teams prepare for a critical situation and yesterday's crash on I-90 was no different. Area hospitals and the American Red Cross had minutes to prepare before their services were needed.

"We have a 24-7 disaster team on call at any time and they are trained to respond to people who have suffered some injury or who are affected by a disaster," says Jane Richardson of the American Red Cross.

The American Red Cross, one of the emergency teams that responded to the I-90 crash, was able to provide a hot meal for stranded motorists and counseling to those traumatized by the incident. The multiple car crash even called for hospitals to enact their disaster plan.

"One of the strategies that they used very effectively was that they looked at the people they had in the department and then who might be able to care for those people in the rest of the hospital and they were able to empty out some of the emergency rooms knowing we'd be getting some more patients," says Krause.

"As they wheel the patients in I kind of eyeball each patient and see who needs to be seen immediately and who appears to be critical," says Stoughton Hospital physician, Michael Ejercito.

And with the help from all response teams most victims of the I-90 crash were able to get the attention they needed.

"It's really quite a privilege and a thrill to be part of that organization that really knows what to do and how to step forward when there really is a disaster such as this one," says Richardson.