In a record time of 5 days the Romanian Army managed to set up a ROL2 class mobile field hospital to treat patients with mild to moderate cases of COVID-19.
This record was made possible partly through the use of two of the six Hercules 210.10 telehandlers that the Romanian Army purchased several years ago.
The hospital is designed to support the Ana Aslan National Institute of Gerontology and Geriatrics in Otopeni, a suburb north of Bucharest. Fully autonomous and equipped with all the necessary equipment, the facility is already operational.
SIX TELEHANDLERS FOR THE ROMANIAN ARMY
After joining NATO, the Romanian government began a modernisation programme to update the equipment supplied to its Armed Forces (Fortele Armate Române), in order to bring it into line with NATO standards.
This programme led to the purchase of six Hercules vehicles in 2016.
Before this year they had been used for the routine maintenance of military installations, various army logistics missions abroad, and recent NATO exercises in Romania (Sabre Guardian and Vigorous Warrior 2019).
During these exercises, the staff of the mobile hospital were incidentally tasked with combatting a hypothetical infectious disease outbreak.
THE MOBILE HOSPITAL IN OTOPENE
As a result, the Romanian Army was able to deploy the well-trained personnel and equipment needed to get the field hospital up and running. In addition to beds, the hospital consists of a triage unit, an analysis laboratory, a radiology unit, a sterilisation unit, operating rooms, a decontamination area, and all the necessary medical equipment.
The complex is housed in several containers that were transported to the site by a logistics detachment comprising heavy goods vehicles and all the staff and equipment needed for ground preparation and installation, including our telehandlers.
Once construction machinery had levelled and prepared the ground, the Hercules went into action, carefully arranging the containers according to the planned layout. The mission also involved the installation of support equipment such as tents, wiring, pipes, toilet facilities, generators, lights and so on.
This immense quantity of heavy and bulky hardware was deployed in just a few hours, a huge logistical jigsaw in which each part of the puzzle needed to fit exactly in place in order to function effectively. It proved the ideal job for the Romanian Army’s Hercules 210.10 vehicles.
TELEHANDLERS SUITABLE FOR ARMED FORCES
The Hercules telehandlers offer all the pluses in terms of safety, manoeuvrability and comfort, in addition to highly advanced hydraulic solutions allowing them to express their full potential in large building construction sites, mines and quarries, port and naval sites, and in heavy works in general, including military operations.
They are medium-large telehandlers equipped with hydrostatic transmission and a central differential that makes it possible to compensate for rolling differences of the wheels on the front and rear axles, minimising stresses and maximising fuel economy.
This vehicle is also equipped with a load sensing/flow sharing proportional directional control valve and an inching pedal for travelling at slow speeds even with the engine at full throttle — an invaluable aid when loading and unloading materials.
The six Hercules of the Romanian Armed Forces have been provided with a comprehensive series of accessories that makes them even more versatile.
DISCOVER THE DIECI VEHICLES FOR ARMED FORCES AND THE ARMY
ROMANIA AND COOPERATION WITH NATO
The Romanian armed forces’ modernisation plan is a long-term project: completion is scheduled for 2025 and the goals are to modernise facilities, cut back on personnel, and acquire new technology that complies with the requirements of NATO, which Romania joined on 29 March 2004.
Membership of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation gives Romania an image of security and stability in the eyes of its new Western allies, an aspect that’s of vital importance for its development.
Romania, in turn, is playing an important role, promoting the values, aims and goals of the Organisation and participating in joint NATO missions alongside other member states.
Romania was a member of the allied forces during the Gulf war, and has taken part in peacekeeping missions in Angola, Bosnia, Albania, Afghanistan and Iraq. It supported NATO during the Kosovo crisis and is also a member of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
