Daimler Buses has converted a Mercedes-Benz Citaro unit into special transportation for COVID-19 patients. The company accelerated the conversion process.
Only three weeks were necessary for the inter-city bus to become special transportation units for the COVID-19 patients. It would normally take months and even years to develop and implement such a transformation.
The conversion took place at the Neu-Ulm plant. The bus is now the largest care ambulance in Germany.
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The German Red Cross Emergency Medical Services make use of the vehicle, while the the University Hospital in Ulm provides the specialized medical staff. Two intensive-care doctors, three paramedics an two ambulance officers are permanently ready to act. The public utility transportation company supplies the drivers and the maintenance personnel.
“Among other professions, it is currently the staff in hospitals and care facilities who are working steadfastly and who particularly deserve our respect. Therefore, I am delighted that we are able to support the DRK by supplying transportation capacity. As a bus manufacturer, we want to contribute to the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic at a local level”, Till Oberwörder, Head of Daimler Buses explains.
It was an idea that David Richter, Managing Director of DRK-Rettungsdienst Heidenheim-Ulm forwarded, in response to the ever-growing need for more intensive care transportation capacities. A team of 12 employees from bus production in Neu-Ulm worked on the bus.
What is different?
What used to be a 45-seats bus is now an actual mobile ICU with four complete intensive care beds. There are four electro-hydraulic wheeled stretchers fitted with a loading system, four intensive care ventilators, four monitoring screens, as well as a sonography unit and a blood gas analysis device.
The staff also benefits from the presence of a stowage space, where they can store the necessary medication and equipment, additional breathing apparatuses and protective clothing.
The specialists also mounted a blue light and the siren on the rooftop as warning signals. The driver benefits from additional protected thanks to a partition wall and a different ventilation system, to reduce the risk of infection with COVID-19 down to zero.
