Watch: Dubai uses isolation capsules to transport coronavirus patients to hospitals
Dubai Corporation for Ambulance Services announced on Monday that it started using isolation capsules to transport coronavirus patients to the hospital.
Khalifa Al-Dari, Executive Director of the Dubai Ambulance Services Corporation, said that the capsule is a bed that is enclosed in a tube to prevent the transfer of infection to paramedics during the transfer of the infected patients to the hospital.
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The “negative pressure isolation epishuttle” has two ventilation slots for when it’s tightly sealed after the patient is placed inside.
To ensure maximum protection for its paramedic staff, #Dubai Corporation for Ambulance Services uses single-patient negative pressure isolation EpiShuttles to transport severe COVID-19 patients to hospital.@Dubai_Ambulance#ThankYouHeroes pic.twitter.com/xBEq24zp0h
— Dubai Media Office (@DXBMediaOffice) April 20, 2020
Doctors and paramedics can handle the patient through specialized openings which allow them to extend their hands and arms inside the capsule without breaking the pressure seal.
Coronavirus treatment
The UAE has been using chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine to successfully treat COVID-19 patients amid the coronavirus outbreak, according to the health ministry.
Initial studies have shown success in using the anti-malarial and anti-inflammatory drugs in treating the illness caused by the new coronavirus, spokeswoman al-Hosani said on Saturday during a press conference.
On Saturday, the UAE obtained 5.5 million pills of hydroxychloroquine as a first shipment from India.
Also, Dubai's health authority (DHA) has started last week treating critical coronavirus patients using plasma from recovered patients, after the clinical efficacy of the treatment has been proven.
The Director of Dubai Health Care Corporation at the Dubai Health Authority, Dr. Younis Kazim, said the authority has introduced a protocol for this type of treatment in its hospitals and private health sector hospitals in Dubai, as part of the measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus and accelerate the treatment of patients.
Dr. Kazim added that the DHA outlined rules and guidelines to specify who can make based plasma donations and who is eligible to receive this treatment.
Plasma is the liquid part of the blood which carries cells and proteins through the body, when taken from a convalescent – someone who has recovered from an illness – it contains antibodies that can fight said illness.
“Doctors believe the plasma of patients who have completely recovered from COVID-19 is rich in antibodies that can fight off the virus. When such plasma is injected into another person with the disease, it will recognize the virus as something to attack,” Dr. Kazim added.
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