COMPANY:
Government of Western Australia

Rapid-Deployment Inflatable Medical Shelters for WA Health’s Emergency Response Fleet

When the Government of Western Australia required a rapidly deployable health response solution, Giant Industrial provided a modular inflatable medical shelter system designed for speed, durability, and clinical functionality in the state’s most remote and disaster-prone areas.

Back Ground

COMPANY:
Government of Western Australia

LOCATION:
Western Australia

The Government of Western Australia’s Department of Health oversees the Western Australian Medical Assistance Team (WAMAT), a multidisciplinary emergency health unit made up of doctors, nurses, paramedics and logisticians. WAMAT is mobilised at short notice to disaster sites, disease outbreaks, mass casualty incidents and other complex health emergencies across Western Australia, one of the largest and most geographically dispersed jurisdictions in the world. Because incidents can occur in remote or regional locations far from established medical infrastructure, WAMAT needed equipment that could be transported easily and established quickly on arrival, while still meeting the clinical standards expected of a WHO-classified Emergency Medical Team.

Challenge

Before adopting inflatable medical shelters, WAMAT used rigid pole-and-frame tents. Assembly required a team of four several hours to complete, which delayed patient care when rapid setup was critical.

The rigid system included many similar-looking parts, such as poles, pins, connectors, guy lines, and panels, which were easy to misplace during pack-down, transport, or storage. Western Australia’s vast distances made missing components difficult to replace on site.

WAMAT required a self-contained inflatable medical shelter system that a small team could set up in minutes, with minimal parts, and that could scale to a full Emergency Medical Team facility with dedicated resuscitation, emergency care, and primary care zones.

Solution: Inflatable Medical Shelters

Giant Industrial supplied WAMAT with modular inflatable medical shelters configured into three functional zones, which link together to create a complete EMT Type 1 field hospital.

The Resus module features the Xbeam600, measuring 6m x 6m, with two treatment trolleys and integrated wall-mounted equipment, signage pockets, and cable management. The Emergency Care module uses the larger Xbeam1200, a 12m x 6m shelter with ten treatment bays in two rows, providing an open treatment floor and dedicated equipment bays at each end. The Primary Care module, also using the Xbeam1200, offers consultation seating for lower-acuity patients near the main entrance.

When joined end-to-end, these three modules form the full EMT Type 1 configuration. Patients move from Resus through Emergency Care to Primary Care within a single, continuously sealed shelter, eliminating the need to step outside between zones. Each module connects using a zip-and-seal system, creating a weatherproof tunnel that protects against dust, insects, and the elements.

Every module is fitted with a dark green floor for visibility and hygiene, low entry lips to support ramps and stretcher movement, multiple window configurations (from open mesh through to fully blacked-out), and external air-conditioning ports for up to six connections on the largest module, allowing WAMAT to condition each zone independently.

This scalable, rapid-deployment inflatable medical shelter system enables WAMAT to establish a full Emergency Medical Team facility, including resuscitation, emergency, and primary care zones, in significantly less time than traditional field hospital infrastructure.