26.03.20
Government calls for rapid ambulance sanitising solutions
Is your company working on an innovative or novel solution to clean ambulances quicker? Well, then Government want to hear from you.
That’s the message coming out of the Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) who are looking to work with innovators to develop rapid sanitisation technology to speed up the time it takes to clean ambulances, as part of the national effort to tackle the coronavirus outbreak.
At present, it can take up to 45 minutes to clean an ambulance once it has transported a suspected Covid-19 patient.
Some ambulance cleaning centres can also be some distance away from their base or hospitals too, adding further strain and delay on an already busy and pressured service as the vehicles are out of service until the cleaning is completed.
To respond to the problem, DASA has launched a new Innovation Focus Area, as part of its wider Open Call for Innovation, seeking help from the industry to identify rapid sanitising technology solutions which can be demonstrated in a live trial on an ambulance.
The current Open Call cycle being ran by DASA has been extended until April 1, 2020 for early bids to be considered.
MORE DETAILS ARE AVAILABLE HERE
Solutions must be suitable for rapid deployment to clean public sector vehicles following the transport of Covid-19 patients. Ideal solutions in DASA’s eyes will have wider applicability than just ambulances too, potentially being able to be extended out to include buses, trains and other blue light services or even in hospital wards and rooms.
Robust, reliable solutions which are mobile and allow ease of operation and maintenance have been flagged as being of particular interest.
DASA is working alongside partners in the Welsh Government, the Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) Centre of Excellence, the Welsh Ambulance Service, Innovate UK and the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL).