In only three weeks, Daimler Buses converted an inter-city bus into a special vehicle for the transfer of COVID-19 patients at its plant in Neu-Ulm, Germany.
The Mercedes-Benz Citaro, now the largest intensive care ambulance in Germany, is to be used by the German Red Cross Emergency Medical Services.
The vehicle is a loan; initially it will be available to the German Red Cross (DRK) for a period of six months. The joint project is supported by the University Hospital in Ulm which is providing the specialized medical staff. SWU Stadtwerke Ulm/Neu-Ulm GmbH (public utility company) is also on board the project and is providing drivers and maintenance personnel.
A team of 12 employees from bus production in Neu-Ulm converted the bus to a high-capacity critical care ambulance in just 15 working days.
Thanks to the repurposed bus, the German Red Cross in Ulm can react fast and transport intensive care patients to other hospitals if necessary. The journeys are supervised by two intensive-care doctors from the University Hospital in Ulm. Three paramedics and two ambulance officers are also on board.
The bus is equipped with four electrohydraulic wheeled stretchers with a loading system, four intensive care ventilators, four monitoring screens, a sonography unit and a blood gas analysis device, for example.
The staff from Daimler Buses also created stowage space for sufficient medicines, nursing equipment, additional breathing apparatus and protective clothing. The Mercedes-Benz Citaro has been repurposed so that the patients can be transported in various positions. The side windows of the DRK bus have been laminated for privacy. The bus has also been equipped with a blue light and a siren.
