In a bid to fight the coronavirus outbreak in the country, Northern Railway has successfully made the first prototype of hospital isolation coach for the treatment of corona patients by converting non-air-conditioned train coaches.
In order to construct an isolation cabin prototype for the patients, the middle berth has been removed from one side of the coach while all three berths have been removed in front of the patient berth, a senior official said, adding that all ladders for climbing up the berths have also been removed. The bathrooms, aisle areas and other areas have also been modified to prepare the isolation coach.
Each railway zone would manufacture a rake with 10 coaches every week after once the best practices were finalised in the next few days, it said in a statement. "Then we will serve the hinterlands or whichever region needs the coaches," Northern Railway Spokesperson Deepak Kumar said.
To make the modified isolation ward, the middle berth was removed, the lower portion of the compartment plugged by plywood and a provision of partition provided from the aisle side for the isolation of the compartment, the railways said. Each coach would have 10 isolation wards, it added.
For medical equipment to be plugged in, the railways has provided 220-volt electrical points in each compartment, which have air curtains segregating one patient from the other.
