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Medical Research Council Ambulance / Laboratory Vehicle
2000
For use with CJD research in Papua New Guinea
Professor Collinge of Imperial College and the Medical Research
Council and his team asked me do design and build a vehicle
that would part of a discreet project to research CJD / BSE.
This involves investigating the Prions and proteins that affect
the nervous system and how they work as they are inherited
from generation to generation.
This meant performing autopsies on cadavers from a society
that has practised cannibalism over many generations, i.e.,
Papua New Guinea.
The team of Doctors from Imperial, who were financed by the
MRC, won the goodwill of the local people by acting as an
unpaid medical service. This had the advantage of access to
the deceased.
Most of the island is dense jungle with a few primitive tracks
connecting villages. The vehicle needed to be 4x4 and strong
enough to take almost constant rough use by a variety of drivers.
It had to perform the duties of:
general transport for a crew of up to five people plus personal
equipment;
ambulance;
mobile lab with freezers for blood etc.
Another major requirement was overall security. When driving
through the jungle, it was common for vehicles to be hijacked
by smashing the windscreen with rocks so that when the driver
stopped he/she would be dragged out and the vehicle taken.
We decided on the export model Landrover Defender 130 with
its TDI deisel engine and extra long chassis cab layout. For
security of equipment and conventional ride arrangment, it
was decided to keep the original crew cab with its six seats
but to replace the rear truck portion with a purpose built
compartment.
This compartment needed to store a samples freezer; fuel cans;
two spare wheels and have the provision to carry a prone patient
/ body. Usually, the ambulance compartment takes up most of
the total body area - with enough space for a patient and
attendant.
In this instance, the rear area was not really long enough
at around 5ft.
The tyres and equipment were stored on each side, to the depth
of the rear wheel arches. This left a space around 28inches
wide.
I moulded a special GRP panel that was shaped to extend this
floor area under the front cab, without puncturing in cab
bodywork and maintaining the integity of the rear section
so that both both sections and the chassis could flex over
rough terrain.
This extended the length to around 6ft., not enough by any
kind of European regulation but ample for the average height
of the local population.
To save weight and for roll over protection and elegance of
use, the structural steel tube frame of the rear was designed
to also incorporate all the necessary storage facilities and
an extra heavy-duty battery.
I bonded a one-piece GRP / Kevlar skin to the structure and
held under pressure during manufacture with giant wooden formers
on reverse jacks.
The result was a sel-coloured, ultra smooth surface that allowed
the flexible mounting of worklights at any point on the body
- another requirement for work in the field.
Security in the cab was helped by the fitting of an exterior
roll cage (galvanised - extreme jungle conditions) onto which
was welded a secure roof area and a drop-down steel mesh riot
screen to protect the windscree.
The whole thing was finished off with a self-recovery winch
at the front, fold-down red crosses at the side (ambulances
simply shout expensive - keeping low key was preferred), a unique
tailgate / roller shutter arrangement at the back, so that an
extra-long body or passengers could be carried and a quickly
demountable blue light.
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Copyright © 2006 Garry Lavin
