Composite hospital shelter in development to combat coronavirus

Rendering of the Tupelo flat pack medical rigid walled shelter deployed in office complex parking lot during an emergency. Source | Core Composites

In response to the coronavirus pandemic, Core Composites (Bristol, R.I., U.S.) is leveraging its network of composite engineers, builders and suppliers to quickly deliver a simple, mobile production shelter to aid in the containment of COVID-19 both domestically and globally.

The new Tupelo shelters are designed to be easily and strategically combined with additional rigid-walled Tupelo shelters as well as soft tent shelters. The shelter will be quoted to specified configurations. According to Core Composites, whose composite Joint Warfighter Shelter of the Future debuted in April 2019, the new shelter’s dynamic design can adapt to fit needs in healthcare for treatment and testing, and perhaps in the evolving classroom setting as well. The shelter can be “flat-packed,” meaning the shelter walls can be stacked on top of each other for high-volume, rapid transportation to affected areas. The shelter will be 20 feet by 10 feet by 10 feet and can be easily expanded to larger sizes with additional panels.

In addition, Core Composites is now partnered with ADS Inc. (Virginia Beach, Va., U.S.), a defense contractor with experience in military shelters, to begin the sales process to the U.S. Department of Defense.

According to Rich O’Meara, Core Composites’ founder, president and chief innovator, the company sees an opportunity to make an immediate positive impact on the crisis with easily deployable, easily sanitized shelters for over-capacity hospitals. “It is time to face that this is going to be a longer process than any of us would like. COVID-19 testing will be critical to allow the work force to return to their jobs safely and test facilities outside of the place of work are a critical part of the solution. We can help be a part of the solution,” says O’Meara.

With more than 40 years of experience in advanced composites, Core Composites, a Division of ROM Development Corp., is a national leader in designing and building the future of advanced composite-based rigid-wall shelters for the U.S. military.