Tue, Jun 29, 2021 page2

• COVID-19: Taichung man designs ambulance isolation booths

  FREE OF CHARGE: Entrepreneur Johnson Yang has so far built and donated nearly 20 acrylic booths to separate suspected COVID-19 cases from fire bureau paramedics

  • Staff writer, with CNA
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  Several ambulances are parked outside a factory in Taichung’s Dali District (大里), but the neighborhood is quiet without any sense of emergency.

  Instead, a man wearing glasses is overseeing the installation of an airtight isolation booth in an ambulance’s patient compartment.

  The man, Johnson Yang (楊冠威), is an entrepreneur and head of Taichung-based SYT Technology Co, which produces items made of plastic and other materials.

  

  A worker inspects the installation of an airtight isolation booth inside an ambulance at SYT Technology Co’s factory in Taichung’s Dali District on Saturday.

  Photo: CNA

  He designed a booth made of transparent acrylic and other materials after the Taichung City Fire Bureau, which also provides emergency medical services, came to him for help last month.

  With COVID-19 cases on the rise, emergency responders were putting their lives at risk by transporting people infected with the virus.

  Without any way to isolate patients in its ambulances, the bureau was relying on rather crude methods to keep its emergency responders safe, he said.

  It used curing tape to try to seal off the vehicle’s driver compartment, while medical staff riding in the patient compartment felt less protected, even with a mask and other personal protective equipment. The bureau also needed about two hours to disinfect its ambulances after transporting each patient.

  To address these problems, Yang designed an isolation booth that separates a person suspected of having COVID-19 from the paramedics, but which would still allow them to monitor the patient’s condition.

  He said that finding a workable solution was much more challenging than he had imagined.

  It took four days for Yang to develop a prototype for the booth and run tests to make sure it worked. Customization was needed because ambulances’ interiors vary, Yang said.

  Smoke was pumped into the booth to see if there were any leaks and make sure that viruses could not escape, he said.

  The booths not only prevent viruses from spreading in an ambulance, but also make disinfecting the vehicle much easier, he said.

  With the isolation booth installed in the ambulance, it now takes Fire Bureau staff only about 10 minutes to disinfect the booth after each trip, he said.

  However, people can only sit in the booth, so it is not suitable for people who need to lie down on a cot and be attended to by medical staff.

  Still, the booths can be useful, and Yang has so far built nearly 20 of them, all free of charge, for ambulances managed by the fire bureaus of Taichung, as well as Miaoli and Nantou counties.

  Yang, who has been a member of Taichung’s Volunteer Fire Brigade for a decade, said he wanted to contribute to the country’s disease prevention efforts.

  He said he has volunteered less in the past few years because of his busy work schedule, but his passion for helping firefighters and paramedics has not faded, as can be seen by the row of miniature ambulance models displayed in his office.

  “People who are involved in fire bureau services are like a family,” he said.

  Yang did not disclose how much it cost to build an isolation booth, but said he had received some donations from friends and strangers who appreciated his work.

  The donations have “made my hard work worthwhile and warmed my heart,” Yang said, adding that he hopes Taiwan will soon overcome the COVID-19 challenge with everyone helping in any way they can.
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