It might not get you to the emergency room in record time (unless the record is ‘fastest trip to hospital in a coach‘), but by the looks of the extensive refit this Mercedes-Benz Citaro bus has received, you might not even need to see the inside of a hospital.
Dubai’s Centre of Ambulance Services has taken delivery of three such mobile clinics, built to ensure that rapid medical assistance can be rendered on the scene at major emergencies, rather than the life-threatening delays in getting victims to hospital.
Thanks to the converted Citaro’s extra space and equipment, up to 20 people can be cared for in the fully equipped mobile clinic, complete with an intensive care unit and an operating theatre.
Developed by conversion-specialists Gebr. Heymann GmbH, and Von Bergh Global Medical Consulting, the Citaro-based ambulances are available in three variants.
Variant A is designed as a mobile intensive care unit, and variant B features equipment for large-scale treatment and transport of medium to slightly injured patients.
Variant C is a combination of the A and B versions, and can treat and transport more than 80 patients.
Among the facilities and equipment aboard the mobile clinic ambulances are three observation bays, an ECG, and an InSpectra shock monitor, which measures oxygen saturation in tissue-matter, warning doctors of the onset of shock minutes before it occurs.
The buses also carry the world’s smallest X-ray unit, with an output so low that protective lead screens are unnecessary.
This isn’t the first time the Citaro has been used for purposes other than ferrying commuters, with fire service command vehicles, police buses, and mobile television studios figuring among the other uses the bus has served.
