CURA // opensource

CURA is an open-source design for emergency COVID-19 hospitals.. It uses repurposed shipping containers to create plug-in Intensive-Care Units (ICU) with biocontainment through negative pressure

The first COVID-19 intensive care units have been installed at a hospital in Turin, Italy.

Developed by the Italian designers Carlo Ratti Associati in collaboration with MIT, the temporary, portable two-bed units could expand hospital space fast in nations struggling to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.

Named CURA (“Connected Units for Respiratory Ailments,” an acronym that means “cure” in Latin), the units are quick to set up but provide all the features of normal isolation wards. Capable of being deployed in numerous configurations – either as self-standing groups of pods or connected to a hospital – the containers house all the equipment needed to treat two ICU patients, including beds, ventilators, monitors and intravenous fluid stands.

 

The units are connected via inflatable corridors that serve as a changing rooms and storage units, and use negative pressure “biocontainment” fans to remove infectious particles. Each pod, meanwhile, has glass windows that could allow visitors to get closer to their loved ones without placing them at risk of infection.

more info at curapods.org