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San Diego CA The
American Lung Association of San Diego announced that they have taken
delivery of their newest educational tool the “Lung Express”. From the
chassis up, the Lung Express is a different vehicle from its origin as a
passenger bus.
After the
association bought the bus in May of last year, extensive work began at
Complete Coach Works in Riverside CA.
Some of
the challenges facing the Lung Express were the need to run Air
Conditioning and 120-volt circuits while the bus was in a stationary
display mode. Complete Coach Works solved these issues by removing
the engine driven air conditioning system and installing 120-volt systems.
These were powered by a separate natural gas powered generator system that
was installed in the rear of the bus above the main engine. This
generator also provides 120-volt AC power for the computers, and other
audiovisual displays.
Complete Coach
Works also removed the windows, added additional structural strength, and
installed a new exterior skin giving the bus a smooth exterior surface
that was later “wrapped” with Lung Express graphics. Other structural
modifications included relocating the emergency escape hatch, installing a
metal structural grid on the interior of the bus that serves to provides
the backbone for the displays that are mounted to it, designing and
installing a new air plenum system for the HVAC system, as well as
installing carpeting and a fabric headliner.
Once Complete
Coach Works had finished these preparations, the vehicle was shipped to
the Portland, Oregon workshop of OMSI were teamwork between Complete Coach
Works and OMSI addressed design issues regarding durability of the
displays from a standpoint of the visiting audience, and also took into
consideration the vibrations of a running vehicle.
Additional
assistance has come from San Diego Transit who has agreed to provide
training to the new Lung Express coordinator, a respiratory therapist, as
a fully licensed driver in lessons that begin this summer.
The Lung Express
will be visiting schools in San Diego and Imperial Counties beginning in
September 2001. The bus is a flagship project of the American Lung
Association of San Diego and Imperial Counties, the community leader in
lung disease prevention, research, and education. The Associations
programs include the annual SCAMP Camp, Open Airways for Schools, and
other efforts to assist children with asthma; Partnerships with county
health departments and other agencies to combat tuberculosis; Better
Breathers Clubs to support adults with impaired lung function; advocacy
and leadership in creating a tobacco-free and environmentally healthy
community; support for lung research; and ongoing education of health care
providers and the public about lung health.
Complete Coach
Works is one of the largest bus remanufacturing, bus retrofit and upgrade
companies in the country. Focusing exclusively on the transportation
industry, Complete Coach Works provides products and services ranging from
accident repair to completely remanufactured and renovated buses,
providing transit properties a cost effective alternative for fleet
expansion or replacement. |
