Italian designer envisages Hospital boat for medical aids at seas ~ Technology Update

Quite a number of people go to sea for various purposes like fishing, traveling, sporting and others. However, since we don't have facilities to provide immediate medical aid for the victims of an unexpected natural disaster or accidents at seas, the concern has led the 29-year-old Italian yacht designer Marino Alfani to envisage a hospital boat concept. Designed like a catamaran, the boat can come close to the shore and offer immediate medical aids to patients. The hospital boat has been conceptualized in a way that it could board full-fledged medical facilities. The boat could lodge state-of-the-art laboratories, operation theaters, hyperbaric chamber for oxygen therapy and other facilities. It could house around twenty people including crewmembers, doctors and nurses. As a result, around 50 patients could be provided treatment daily.

The boat would have a helipad and garage for ambulance that bring patients from nearby accident sites and also transport them to land hospitals if required. According to Alfani, the boat would be hugely helpful in occasions like the recent Costa Concordia and the 2004 tsunami. When there are natural calamities like earthquakes and tsunamis, road networks often are blocked. Therefore, the idea of providing medial aids at sea is quite brilliant.

The prototype of the Hospital boat is built of aluminum alloy. The build measures in at 115-feet long, 48-feet wide and 25-feet tall. The whole architecture takes it inspiration from the emergency room of the BergamoHospital in Italy. Two 1200 diesel electric motors would propel the boat to provide a maximum speed of 10knots. The wonderful design won the 2012 Millennium Yacht Design Awards.