Complete with ventilators, oxygen supply and other equipment, the eight-carriage train can carry 45 doctors and nurses and will be based in Milan, Lombardy, where Italy’s third wave of infections is rapidly filling intensive care wards.
“The train was conceived a year ago during Italy’s first wave, when patients had to be flown from Italy to Germany,” Francesco Rocca, head of the Italian Red Cross, said.
The train will act as a roaming hospital to transport patients from pressure points around the country and is the fruit of collaboration between Italy’s civil protection agency, the Red Cross and the emergency services in Lombardy.
Although conceived as a way to alleviate the strain on hospitals affected by the pandemic, the train may be used for other medical emergencies such as natural disasters in the future.
The train was launched last Monday at Rome’s central Termini train station.
It came as Italy passed the grim milestone of 100,000 official coronavirus deaths.
