Icelandic orthopaedics manufacturer Össur has provided customised new stretchers to Landspítali Hospital in order to transport people infected with the novel coronavirus, COVID-19. Reminiscent of a newborn incubator, the stretchers are coated in a thick, malleable plastic, and contain special carbon filters so the patient can breathe. There are also compartments with mitts so nurses and others can attend to the patient.
Landspítali contacted Össur last week about the possibility of manufacturing stretchers. The hospital had a few, but due to the epidemic, they anticipated a need for more. “Our people went to great lengths and crafted this based on a foreign model in collaboration with the hospital staff,” Edda H. Geirsdóttir, information officer at Össur, told Fréttablaðið.
She also said that the staff at Össur dropped other projects to focus solely on designing the boxes for the hospital. Four have been manufactured at the time of this writing, and a fifth will be delivered by Easter. The stretchers have to be carefully constructed, and every precaution must be taken in order to ensure that they are safe in terms of spreading infection.
In case you needed more reason to isolate and keep social distance, stare at the picture above of these stretchers for a few minutes. You don’t want to go in one.
As ever, those looking for more information or advice should go to the Icelandic Government’s excellent COVID-19 help page.
Tune into our daily COVID-Cast for a deeper dive into the day’s developments.
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