A FIRST negative pressure ambulance has been put into service in Greece, courtesy of a dry bulk shipping company, as the country strives to bring a second wave of the coronavirus under control.

The new Peugeot Boxer, a donation of M/Maritime under the umbrella of the Greek Shipowners’ Social Welfsare Company, or ‘Syn-Enosis’, was handed over to the central Athens branch of the National First Aid Centre, known as EKAB, on Thursday.

Numerous countries have expanded their fleets of negative pressure ambulances since the outbreak of the pandemic but until now none were available to Greek emergency responders.

It is understood that M/Maritime, a growing Athens-based manager of bulk carriers, hopes that the donation will help call attention to the lack of such ambulances and others may follow suit.

A negative pressure ambulance is designed for transferring patients with coronavirus or other infectious diseases with greatly reduced risk to medical staff as the negative pressure system filters and safely discharges infected air.

According to the Union of Greek Shipowners, which launched Syn-Enosis in 2016, it raised €13m ($15.9m) to help strengthen Greece’s national health system when the pandemic first broke out.

The funds have been used to provide critical equipment in more than 40 hospitals and laboratories throughout the country.

Syn-Enosis’ contribution has come in addition to a wave of private donations from the shipping community that included large shipments of masks and other personal protective gear for health workers in the early days of the crisis.

While Greece was among the best performers against the virus prior to the summer, in recent weeks the country has suffered record numbers of infections and deaths, forcing the government to declare a second lockdown.

In a statement announcing the ambulance donation, Syn-Enosis said that its activities to help the Greek health system were “ongoing.”