Trials of novel technology that could dramatically cut the time
it takes to decontaminate ambulances have taken place following a
rapid appeal by the Defence and Security Accelerator
(DASA) in response to Coronavirus.
Scientists at the Defence Science and Technology
Laboratory (Dstl) have tested 12 methods to speed-up the
sanitising of ambulances – in some cases reducing cleaning time
from an hour to around 10 minutes so more lives can be saved.
More than 200 ideas were submitted to DASA by industry in just
seven days following the appeal, which was launched on behalf of
the Welsh Ambulance Service, Welsh Government, The Small Business
Research Initiative (SBRI) Centre of Excellence, and Innovate UK.
Gabriella Cox, DASA security competition lead, said:
This has been a huge effort from everyone involved. The
response by industry was remarkable and there has been a
monumental effort by staff from DASA, Dstl and our partners to
be able to complete this project in just 33 days.
Innovation has never been more important as we play our part in
the national effort against Coronavirus.
Dstl scientist Steve Mitchell, who led the trials, said:
The trials have shown some really promising ideas ranging from
fogging techniques, sprays, and using a decontaminant vapour to
give a thorough and deep clean in the quickest time possible.
This has been a big challenge for everyone involved to turn
this work around in such rapid time with the possibility of one
of the solutions being taken forward by the Welsh Ambulance
Service in the next week or so.
DASA asked businesses to
come up with innovative solutions to accelerate the cleaning of
ambulances so that crews can get back on the road and respond
to other emergency calls.
It is hoped the solutions may also be used by other emergency
services and possibly public transport.
The Welsh Ambulance Trust will consider results from the trials
and successful solutions may be implemented across the
organisation.
DASA finds and funds innovation for the UK’s defence and
national security.
