The first step in establishing a physical presence in 12 different communities was to follow the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey model of mobile examination centers. We designed and procured two vehicles from LifeLineMobile in Cincinnati Ohio (www.lifelinemobile.com) to serve as mobile examination centers. MRV 1 is a 53-foot customized semitrailer with three working areas: an examination room with blood donor station; a cardiovascular fitness and physical performance testing area; and a bone density and vascular studies testing area. MRV 2 is a 40-foot customized self-propelled truck with three interview rooms for cognitive and neuropsychological testing, psychosocial and other questionnaires, and inventories. Initially, we collected biological specimens in MRV 1, but the risk of exposing participants and staff to biohazards led us to design and acquire MRV 3 specifically for specimen collection and consultation.
