SBIR/STTR Award attributes
To address the DHS Vehicle Infectious Disease Protection (VIDP) requirements, Karagozian and Case, Inc. (K&C) proposes to develop a VIDP Conversion Kit (VCK) which includes: 1) all parts needed to convert a vehicle, 2) detailed installation instructions, and 3) operation manual. A kitted solution is a cost-effective approach which allows K&C or DHS to hire local shops to perform the required vehicle conversion near the law enforcement base of operations. Furthermore, K&C's proposed solution will include an A kit (VCK-A) and a B kit (VCK-B) where the VCK-A solution is a complete kit and the VCK-B solution is a partial kit for scenarios where parts are reused from a previously installed VCK-A kit (i.e. in situations where a previously converted vehicle is decommissioned). K&C's VCK solution will be a dual-purpose solution which provides a vehicle security partition as well as VIDP capabilities. The VCK technology proposed by K&C uses an airtight partition to separate the detainee compartment from the agent compartment while also eliminating any direct airflow pathways between the compartments (e.g. through ducts or vents). Compartmentalization of the air is the only sure way to ensure that no infectious particles (even very small ones) do not cross from one space to the other. In addition, K&C's VCKs are lighter than traditional law enforcement vehicle partitions/cages and thus there is a possibility for an overall weight decrease relative to law enforcement vehicles equipped with a traditional partition or cage.
