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In response to the coronavirus pandemic, the City of Toronto has announced that five decommissioned TTC buses are being converted to Toronto Paramedics transportation vehicles.

The announcement was made by officials on Tuesday. They said the buses were converted to allow for the safe transportation of patients who are ambulatory and those who need to be moved by stretcher, including those who are using ventilators.

“The converted buses represent a key component of the City’s contingency planning to support seamless, efficient, and timely patient care, while also providing important surge capacity during the COVID-19 pandemic,” a statement said.

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“These vehicles provide a variety of multi-patient options, including inter-facility patient transfers, the provision of a staging area for large incidents, and shelter for facility evacuations.”

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The City said each bus can move three patients who are in stretchers, eight to 10 patients who are ambulatory (subject to physical distancing guidelines), three paramedics, and a TTC driver.

Three vehicles were ready to go as of Monday and two vehicles are still being worked on.

I am extremely proud of this partnership between the TTC and Paramedics to repurpose decommissioned buses for emergency transport. This was brought together at wartime speed, and responds to an urgent need and will help the ill and vulnerable in Toronto immediately. pic.twitter.com/eO41pSB0By — John Tory (@JohnTory) April 21, 2020