In late November, the U.S. government delivered two mobile emergency hospitals to Peru to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. The hospitals, valued at more than $780,000, have the capacity to treat 80 patients a day.
“The goal is that these two modern, complete mobile hospitals […] will be used to their maximum capacity to save Peruvians’ lives during the pandemic and beyond the pandemic,” said Denison Offutt, U.S. Embassy chargé d’affaires in Peru, during the handover ceremony at the Peruvian Army headquarters. “Next year [2021], they can be used in the vaccination campaign. And then, thanks to their great mobility, they can be set up to serve populations affected by natural disasters.”
The field hospitals will benefit the Peruvian Ministry of Health and the National Institute of Civil Defense (INDECI, in Spanish), an institution under the Ministry of Defense. Each mobile hospital has its own power generator and electrical grid, five heaters, and four hand-washing stations and will be equipped with four mechanical fans. According to a statement from the U.S. Embassy in Peru, each hospital consists of five sections that can be connected to form a single structure. The sections can also be set up separately, so they can be quickly transported to remote areas.
“The important donation of two mobile emergency hospitals will strengthen our ability to assist citizens amid COVID-19. Peruvian Army and Ministry of Health personnel have already been trained to set up and handle this equipment, so we are already prepared to put these facilities into use when necessary,” Peruvian Minister of Defense Nuria Esparch Fernández said.
“Faced with a challenge, such as the one the pandemic has presented to all the countries in the world, it is imperative that we continue to coordinate efforts to defeat this disease, as we guarantee national defense and democratic governance in our country,” the minister added.
