gokeefe wrote: ↑Mon Apr 06, 2020 5:07 pm
I think the implied use was for transport. As stationary units they would not be ideal at all given the confined space and minimal distancing available between patients along with closed air supply.
That seems perfect for COVID wards - not the confined space necessarily, but the HVAC system and relatively easy decontamination. The “ward” (a tent within the car, with a multi-stage decontamination unit) would be kept under negative pressure relative to the car, meaning that virus-laden air would tend to stay in the containment, with a HEPA-filtered outflow into the car. The car itself would then be kept under negative pressure relative to the outside world, and parked on a side track some distance away from other people. I figure that five V-IIs could house ten patients apiece? A mobile fifty-bed COVID hospital would be a huge help.
Amtrak could also supply Viewliner sleepers and diners to go with the train, so COVID-team medical staff would have somewhere to stay during the outbreak without needing to go outside too often. More so than hotels, the cars could be relatively easily decontaminated should a staff member catch the illness.
This may be the best, highest use of Amtrak out there, even if it can only make two or three trains available for hospital duty. Good idea, folks.