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Mobile Animal Hospital
Mobile Animal Hospital
The Design and Manufacturing Process of Mobile Animal Hospitals
1. Introduction to Mobile Animal Hospitals
Mobile Animal Hospital; There is relatively little guidance available on the design and building of MAHs. Included in the current body of knowledge are a few items that others have developed over the years on the design of similar facilities like travel trailers, mobile marketing vehicles, buses, and motor coaches. Each of these specialized vehicles shares something in common with an MAH, but each could be better for their specific users with some important modifications. Since there are specialized design and construction requirements for this important and unique form of veterinary practice, several references are made to the design, manufacture, and use of the Veterinary Trailer Institute (VTI) MAHs.
Mobile Animal Hospitals (MAHs) have several important roles to play in modern veterinary services. This chapter gives a detailed look at how these unique, high-quality structures are built in a time when construction costs can limit our ability to provide care to the most vulnerable pets across the United States. The essentials of the design and building process are outlined, and the technologies that provide solutions tailored to these goals are described. Along the way, the reader will learn ways to economize, but cost savings usually need to be made in units or by balancing with a number of opportunities, rather than by skimping on this specialized, quality, and unique construction service.
2. Mobile Animal Hospital Design Considerations
Availability: The vehicle must be in service whenever the call comes, so it should be in front line condition. This implies a second vehicle should be available to ensure this back up. An onsite backup generator is essential in those situations where the vehicle’s generator encounters problems. All instruments must be regularly calibrated. Equipment must be replaced on a regular basis. In addition to all the safety, power, air conditioning, and maintenance backup safety features common to all high-technology vehicles, it should be developed for this special vehicle. Optical fibers that allow real-time computer interactions across the county should be included. Initial design efforts were focused on developing the floor plan for the vehicle. Lowering the television monitor lowered viewing comfort. The separation of the mobile from the stationary section enhanced the interaction between the remote image and the actual tabletop. As a result of measuring the critical dimensions of the stationary section, the overall width of the vehicle was increased. Workstation design is an evolutionary effort that combines safety with functionality. The position of medical equipment and accessories on the stationary section was established. It interacts with the computer screens that highlight important data. Preliminary drafts of the overhead plan were expanded to produce the final floor plan for the mobile hospital. Several layouts were considered, but the simple clear working space at the front of the vehicle proved the most successful in optimizing vehicle volume. Caution was always exercised to assure that all essential equipment was accommodated. This is particularly important because most of the costly diagnostic and therapeutic equipment was introduced during the electronic vehicle development phase. Each of the following nine sections describes some of the ongoing developments at the time of the article’s preparation.
Size Mobile Animal Hospital : Size is a major design issue. The vehicle must be large enough to accommodate required equipment, supplies, and personnel. When fully outfitted, the vehicle will weigh more than four tons, so heavy-duty chassis, tires, and suspension are necessary. Maneuverability is also a factor because the vehicle will need to enter and leave a great variety of sites in cities and suburbs. The area needed to park the vehicle is also critical. Requests for service will come from public and commercial organizations, including apartment complexes, fairs, and animal shelters. Parking areas may be of any size and shape, generally unpaved, and may or may not be adjacent to available water and electricity. The vehicle must accommodate a variety of parking sites. And in cases where water and electricity are not available, the vehicle must be sufficiently self-sufficient to handle the situation.
2.1. Mobile Animal Hospital Functionality and Features
Mobile Animal Hospital ; The design process will also need to allow for flexibility in the placement of these various elements to maximize the use of limited space and allow for optimal interaction between them. Large steps between the various areas that are inappropriate is also a concern to the user and would need to be resolved. An effective relationship between the people inside and the activities happening both in the clinic and in the town where it is doing its function must be realized. Clear connections between tasks inside and the urban activities the clinic is facilitating, footstep, and word explanations must be made. The use of plain almost unnoticed machine to enhance the quality of this relationship should be a hidden layer of the design “service as spaceholder”. The hidden services are necessary to perform the activities we designed for (both humans and animals) and provide comfort and coziness, tranquility, dialogue, assistance, and privacy. These considerations along with the constraints of moving a structure needing to be taken into account would likely create a complex design problem needing a holistic approach to the solution.
Work surfaces for laptops and other necessary functions must be incorporated. Clear and concise areas for preservation, for blood and dangerous waste, for lab activity, and for laundry must be accounted for. An accessible kitchenette and bathroom facilities need to be integrated. Security features to ensure the safety of the staff and the animals are necessary. Also lighting and ventilation features need to be incorporated and consideration have to be given to the internal environment that must provide adequate air movement, humidity, heat and cold protection. The flooring will also be exposed to a large amount of water and will need to be slip resistant. Outdoor space must be provided enough for grooming and kenneling. Providing a weatherproof and safe platform for customers and their animals to gather in and around the bus is also necessary. Complete external and internal branding to facilitate easy recognition of the institution while traveling and in transit is a design need.
The mobile hospital would need to fulfill a variety of functions. It needs to be able to both house the mobile hospital and the removable function so as to perform its task. This would also include area to store medicine and other facilities necessary to enable essential medical services to be provided. An office area with space for a reception desk, seating for customers, and facilities to enable staff to perform administrative functions is also necessary. Adequate storage for blood samples, dressings, syringes, and other small items are required. Equipment and resources required during consultations need to be readily available. These could include consulting table and scale, sanitary station, examination light, and other equipment.
The design of the mobile animal hospital would have to balance the need for both functionality and aesthetics. The decision to replace a hospital on foundation with a mobile facility is often driven by the necessity and the need to extend healthcare to isolated communities or areas with a low customer base. It is important for the hospital to be welcoming and have a clean professional image to change people’s expectations and perceptions. Additionally, the traditional hospital designs do not use a level of design incentive by questioning the implications of such travel and the implications of the journey on the needs of the customer and how we respond to them. It would be expected that facilities in these traveling clinics would differ in form and function to captive facilities where animals and people do not move. These aspects together would form the main constraints of the project.
2.2. Durability and Longevity
As with all of the construction of the mobiles, the truck is completed with the best quality materials and parts that can be found. The materials and design were chosen for longevity and durability as well as for appearance. The outside bottom of the truck up to the lower belt is constructed from a rugged box tube framing with strong aluminum sheeting. The bottom edge is even further strengthened by the fact that all of the aluminum sheeting from the bottom edge to the bottom of the first belt is designed to reinforce the frame in these locations. The upper sheeting is trimmed out with heavy-duty diamond plate aluminum to further protect the sides against bumps, knocks, and scratches. The ink color was originally chosen to harmonize with the high-quality graphics that will be added to the truck at a later date. Since then, it has been discovered that the ink color may play an important part in the heat build-up in the truck. If a lighter color ink had been chosen, the interior may be a little cooler in the summer sun.
3. Materials and Components
A totally self-contained means of providing the relatively heavy power needs that are typical for lighting and for the power hoists is suggested. This would consist of a towable generator system. Its own propane or diesel fuel would be carried, and the unit would be capable of creating a quiet 208-3 phase/120V single-phase electrical service for the mobile hospital at remote locations. Its capacity would be at least 150% greater than the normal power needs, to provide for safety redundancy in case of breakdown or maintenance, and to support heavy power tools and equipment during repair and maintenance activities.
3.3 Electrical Supply
In order to lift and move the largest size and the heaviest animal that might be encountered in a community, and in order to provide for maximum safety, two heavy-duty lifting hoists are recommended. Not only will two powered hoists allow for backup in case the primary unit fails, but they also provide a means for lifting animals weighing up to double the rated capacity of one unit. Additional hoists would be even better.
3.2 Lifting Devices
Following extensive study and cost analysis, it was determined that the goals and objectives of this project can be best met by purchasing a small trailer specifically designed and engineered for this special purpose. A minimum of 12,000 lb. capacity was found to be necessary. We were fortunately able to locate a number of trailers suitable for purchase and modification.
3.1 Selection of a Trailer
3.1. Chassis and Frame
A rugged, 24-foot frame is mounted on the chassis and is constructed of 2″ x 4″ x 11-gauge steel tube. The floor and cabinets of the frame are constructed of 16-gauge stainless steel. The frame is insulated with a thermal break, and all cabinets are sealed and heatproof. Various forms of heat are used to keep the in-motion MRI unit in operation mode, which include the power dissipation of the motor, and oil heating in the reservoir, the sun, and the protective cover over the in-motion MRI unit provides at its resting place in transport mode. The cooling is done by using ordinary electrical fans. The fans are the ones that are used to cool the head of computers.
The mobile hospital is built on a custom chassis that is specifically designed to be easily maneuverable yet capable of high-speed operation. Because of the rotating effect of the oscillatory feed, the chassis is designed so that all eight wheels contact with the ground. The caliper brakes are mounted directly under the wheel hubs, and the connection between the wheel and the brake is via the brake disk. The wheel brake disk is then connected to the vehicle transmission via couplings that can be automatically connected and disconnected by the hydraulic RGB actuators. This robust chassis allows the vehicle to be driven without having to lift the wheels in rough terrain. The chassis is made of highly weather-resistant steel so that it resists corrosion and the mechanical stresses that the oscillatory feed and the caliper brake generate. The chassis is mounted on air bellows that reduce the vibrations of the in-motion MRI unit. The bellows can be adjusted in their stiffness to keep the in-motion MRI as much as possible vertical to the ground.
3.2. Interior Fixtures and Fittings
According to the need for special functions, there is a rich variety of configurations in auxiliary devices of the interior of a mobile animal hospital. Installation location, dimension, materials, weight distribution, lock and latch devices, and the effect of a rough ride for animals are the inner concerns in design. Ease of assembly, disassembly, cleaning, maintenance, and the half-torn function of interior fittings and fixtures are also important concerns of the designer. For different types of animals, many different dimensions and types of cages, kennels, and toilet boxes have to be developed as part of the overall planning of interior features. For the health and comfort of animals, a special environment control system, including air conditioning, heating system, humidity devices, and air circulation, is also of special interest in the structure of interior fixtures and fittings.
Interior fixtures and fittings of mobile animal hospitals include auxiliary devices and equipment used to care for injured and sick animals. Inside a typical mobile animal hospital, there may be wire mesh cages, examination tables, scales, kennels, toilet boxes, etc. Unlike the electrical and mechanical fixtures, the interior fixtures and fittings are related to animal containment management, environmental control, dimensions, space planning, and interior decoration. The design of this type of interior fittings and fixtures is usually specialized and has to fulfill the embedded relationship between the vehicle and the animals in terms of user needs as well as the behavior of the animals.
4. Manufacturing Techniques
The parts for the new unit can be manufactured using metalworking processes such as forming, cutting, joining, finishing, and coating. Forming processes usually include rolling, shearing, and punching. For the prototype, the cabinet and other components will be joined together using sheet-metal fasteners and other fasteners such as bolts, nuts, clips, rivets, screws, etc. Synergism occurs when the product components of a mobile animal hospital are sprayed with plastic coatings. Learn about the various finishing processes such as cleaning, converting of surfaces for paint adhesion, direct spraying, and inspected during inspection after the coatings are applied by an on-line color-cash machine. The use of CAD, CAM, and PLC equipment in various stages of vehicle production is discussed. In conclusion, the authors look into the retrofitting and recycling of the mobile veterinary units.
4.1. Welding and Fabrication
The end walls are not load-bearing walls but are there to seal off the kennel section and to protect the clinic personnel from the animals under stressful medical procedures. The end walls were fabricated from 20-gauge aluminum with more plasma lost-weld gained techniques. Compound and French curves were used to shape the end wall with enough of a ledge for drain angles to be welded behind them. The end walls were attached with 3/4-inch aluminum tubing by welding the tubing to the inside of the wall frame, then welding a tongue to the tubing, leaving the end wall tongue and tube joint to be bolted during final assembly. The 48-by-98-inch drop table used during assembly and welding weighed at least 6 lb./square foot causing it to warp and distort its own structural angle. The option of a lighter, beefier table was studied for the next unit.
Continuous welding is very important when fabricating flooring material into large kennel sections because of the thermal expansion and contraction properties of the flooring. The methods used for quality floor joints were to weld the actual seams, skip drop the plasma notches into the flooring then weld the seams needed. The skips were measured in the welding jigs to ensure that the flooring was placed properly and then followed up with continuous overlapping tack welding. Compound curves required further inspection and welding at the mating seam as well as relieve cuts around the main intersection points of the flooring. On one mobile clinic trailer, a corner plate was welded to the flooring seam section because of the thickness and integrity of the seams at the 90° joint.
4.2. Assembly and Integration
The workshops are designed to repair the veterinary components present in the vehicle’s portfolio. The repair process for each component is characterized from a value chain standpoint. Once the component is identified as faulty, a work order is collected downward. Management personnel then validate the authorized budget, which is defined for the repair of the components. Once the necessary control measures are implemented, the vehicle is positioned at the EMS facilities and the necessary equipment for the diagnosis of the reported fault is installed. The component is then repaired and qualified, and this qualification will determine whether the component is returned to the workshop or whether it is declared fit for return to the components portfolio. The repaired component may have an operational improvement or the so-called overhauling. Upon return to the component repair workshop inventory, a stock balance is performed.
Once all the components are in place, EMS will undergo thorough testing prior to being put into service. During this testing, any operational faults that might arise will be rectified. After the successful completion of this testing and any necessary correction of testing faults, and should the State Agro-Sanitary Inspectorate carry out a favorable compliance inspection, EMS will be put into service. Any faults identified and corrected in the period from its commitment to service and its reorientation for its operations will be reported. Once the repair schedule is back in service, it will proceed to perform the operations in its portfolio. It must be noted that repairs do not alter the normal functioning of the company’s animal transport vehicle.
5. Quality Control and Testing
44,000 km of real vehicle testing show that women subjected vehicles to very harsh and frequently changing road conditions. This was the only true way of proving the real vehicle field-breakdown limits and was, in fact, a sort of lengthy system analysis. The high rate of vehicle testing triggered the person building the test vehicle into keeping strict interior/operation checklists of the testing conditions. It lists not only all the component testing but also all the ‘hardware’ and ‘software’ operation feedback supplied daily by hospital personnel. It was, in fact, a collection of all the ‘small unrelated’ faults, which represent minor day-to-day system saturation breakdowns. In addition, the test report was the official medium for written community feedback. It portrayed all the past events and also proposed the future activity planning. The authors believe that the use of such detailed checklists would be beneficial to all parties involved, including the community.
5.1 Checklists
Section 5 is concerned with the quality control measures and their associated mechanisms for the operation of the mobile animal hospitals. The task ahead is to ensure that each vehicle is sufficiently tested and checked from an equipment/operational perspective before concluding the vehicle handover phase. Additionally, these quality controls are other important incurred operational costs. It is important to demonstrate both internal/external monitoring capabilities and recognized European quality indicators.
