To help fight the worsening COVID-19 that is now affecting the world, a new initiative is transforming some shipping containers into intensive care units (ICUs). Called CURA or connected units for respiratory ailments, the very first structure is presently being constructed in Milan's Italian City.
The team behind this project, including Carlo Ratti, said, the units can be as fast to install as a hospital tent, yet, "as safe as an isolation ward," and this is attributed to the so-called "biocontainment" that has negative pressure.
The CURA (a Latin word which means cure) ICU pods are designed to augment the intensive care capacity of the country.
The aim, the CURA team explained, is to quickly deploy the ICU pods in cities all over the world and promptly respond to the shortage of hospital ICU spaces, as well as the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. The first of its kind, this unit is built at a Milan hospital. Milan, according to reports, is one of the cities with the most number of COVID-19 cases in Italy.
Containers-cum-ICUs by Reputable Italian Architects Behind the Project
The containers-cum-ICUs are designed by Carlo Ratti Associati, an Italian architecture studio, and Architect Italo Rota. The collaboration is part of the development team which includes Jacobs, an engineering studio; and Squint/Opera, a digital studio that also created the video that explains the concept of the whole project.
Additionally, the notion is to develop temporary structures that can be quickly deployed just like the customary hospital tents but featuring a "high level of biocontainment" for the prevention of the spreading of the infectious illness.
Constructed within reused 6.1-meter long shipping containers, the models feature a ventilation system, generating a common method used in laboratories and hospitals called the negative pressure, to stop the contaminated air from escaping.
Additionally, the designers explained that the models have been designed in compliance with the standards of the Airborne Infection Isolation Rooms (AIIRs). The CURA team also explained that each biocontainment unit will contain all the equipment needed to support and treat two COVID-19 patients.
Each, the group added, can work as a separate unit, or be associated with a structure that's inflatable in different configurations to create multi-bed and larger setups.
ALSO READ:
The Designer's Vision
The CURA team envisions the ICU pods being set up together with the existing hospitals and in other spaces such as car parks to expand the capacity for extensive care. The team also pictures the units being deployed to function as field hospitals. As earlier mentioned, the CURA team was created to respond to the present COVID-19, which is putting great pressure on ICUs in nations of the world.
To date, the pandemic has already infected over 400,000 and killed more than 18,000 people worldwide, with China, Spain, and Italy as some of the countries with the most number of cases and deaths.
Designers and Firms have been addressing the COVID-19 issue with various solutions with labels which include Vauxhall, a car manufacturer; Kering, the parent company of Gucci; and BrewDog, a beer maker.
These companies have all offered production lines and money to produce the products needed for the treatment of the virus.
