'CURA' Installed in Turin

CURA was designed as a quick solution for increasing the capacity of ICUs in hospitals hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. The open-source project consists of a 20-foot-long shipping container housing beds, ventilators, monitors, and other equipment for two patients.

Windows cut into the long sides of the container are intended for doctors "always get a sense of the status of patients both inside and outside the pods," but they could also allow for families of the patients to have some visual contact. The latter is an important concern given that hospitals are not allowing visitors or are distancing them from infected patients.

Photographs of the prototype show the container attached to an inflatable structure that serves as storage and changing room, what in the initial design was a corridor which connected multiple containers. CURA is installed in a former industrial shed next to 90 beds in an open-plan configuration. The greater area given the latter does raise the question: How quickly could CURAs be produced to fill the same amount of space if needed? Hopefully the downward trend of cases in Italy continues and such a need does not arise.