Technical Workshop on Emergency Intermediate Modes of Transport in Madagascar

This report summarises the key preparation activities, desk research, training overview and recommendations from a five day workshop on Emergency Intermediate Modes of Transport (IMT) Design held in June in Antsirabe, Madagascar. This workshop was facilitated by two expert appropriate technology design consultants and the participants included transport technicians, trainers and engineers. The workshop addressed three main topics; quality of production, accurate construction of the bicycle ambulance design and design modifications, including design flaws with the current wheeled stretcher design. It aimed to address the need for ensuring that IMT designs are fit for purpose and that communities and local partners have an input into their design. This report also provides an overview of projects working to develop appropriate technology for IMTs (particularly those used in medical emergencies). A number of key recommendations were highlighted, including the importance of considering culture in addition to functionality, ensuring that you start with simple designs and the value of using locally available materials and testing prototypes before scaling up production. The workshop resulted in the development and production of a new wheeled stretcher design. This report also identifies a number of practical next steps as a result of this workshop as well as two key areas for improvement, namely, the need to have a multidisciplinary team working together and the importance of documenting designs and making them open-sourced.