ABU DHABI :Abu Dhabi Health Services Company (SEHA), the UAE’s largest health care provider, announced the launch of its ‘Ambulance Sterilization System’. Created specifically for transporting COVID-19 patients, the latest innovation completes the full sterilization of a single ambulance within 20-30 seconds. As part of SEHA’s continuous efforts to deliver world-class healthcare, the system is aimed at improving the response time required between trips with the same ambulance. This also enhances the capacity, allowing more patients to be transported within a single day, improving the overall efficiency in treatment delivery. The Ambulance Sterilization System also eliminates the need for human intervention in the sterilization process and minimizes the possibility of contamination or even secondary infection.

 Dr. Marwan Al Kaabi, Group Deputy Chief Operating Officer, SEHA, said, “The launch of the Ambulance Sterilization System underpins SEHA’s commitment to ensuring its entire network is equipped with the most advanced technology, and capabilities. Combined with the skill of our employees, SEHA is positioned to pave the way in reimagining the delivery of care. Despite the challenges introduced by the COVID-19 outbreak, we are more focused on providing solutions which protect the health and well-being of the UAE community, in addition to limiting the spread of the virus.”

 “The Ambulance Sterilization System was designed and created by an Emirati member of our team. SEHA invests heavily into the development and use of the latest technological advancements, whilst empowering employees to innovate new business and medical solutions, ultimately benefitting from the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). Leveraging the power of Artificial Intelligence (AI), the vehicle and its contents undergo a sterilization process using targeted cold-fogging disinfection, which is commonly used for air purification, as well as in hospital quarantines. The push-button system is activated as soon as COVID-19 patients leave the ambulance for treatment, requiring only 20-30 seconds at most to complete the process. As a result, the system minimizes the need for longer lead times when preparing ambulances or waiting time needed by third-party contracting services.” he added.

 Ahmed Turki Al Mansoori, General Services Manager, Ambulatory Healthcare Services (AHS), SEHA commented, “In our mission to swiftly and effectively respond to implications brought by COVID-19, we recognized that ambulances play a pivotal role in helping manage the treatment of cases, as well as delivery of care. Demand for Ambulances has undoubtedly increased, and thanks to the support of the UAE’s leadership, we have been able to not only empower SEHA’s employees to innovate and create, but also invest in new technologies which will deliver long-term results.”

 “Previously, ambulances and emergency equipment underwent professional medical sterilization, which needed relatively longer periods of time. With this innovative technology, an automated pump pulls the sterilizer from a tank connected to each ambulance. Afterwards, the system sterilizes the equipment and other items within the ambulance using a combination of UVC heat, high concentrations of medical-grade disinfectants and water in the form of a fine mist to ensure all visible or hard to reach surfaces become sterilized. The system has allowed for a cost-effective, speedy, precise and accurate sterilization process for one of our most important assets in our fight against COVID-19.” added Ahmed.

 Abdullah Mohammed, General Manager, The Best Color Company – the company responsible for executing the system stated, “The Ambulance Sterilization System is time-efficient, sustainable and economic, as it utilizes half a gallon of medical-grade disinfectant for every hour of use. In addition, the cold-fogging disinfection feature can spray with a force of up to 80 bars and a flow rate of nine metric liters per minute. Each spray droplet’s size measures 7.3 micrometers or microns in diameter.”

 “The pump pulls the components of the sterilizers from a built-in tank located in all ambulances, according to the best quality controls and assurance, to ensure that the disinfectants are stored under the optimum temperature. For every round of sterilization, the tank automatically mixes the disinfectants to maintain the concentration of the components. Once this phase is complete, the disinfectants are sprayed using the cloud-fogging mechanism through a precise and sophisticated process to ensure all visible and hidden surfaces, as well as equipment are completely sterilized.” added Abdullah.

 In partnership with Abu Dhabi Police, SEHA has adapted its ambulances as part of its readiness and preparedness strategy for combating epidemics, including the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, SEHA is working on ensuring that all regular services such as emergency medical response and management emergency (operating 24/7) do not get disrupted, by equipping all its facilities with the most advanced technologies to deal with all injuries, especially those most prevalent in Abu Dhabi. Immediate response teams have also introduced stricter infection control measures when responding to emergencies to prevent potential infections to patients.