Euro pallets are used successfully not only for the transportation of relief goods in crisis areas. Upon their arrival at a site they offer the helpers of the DRK another major benefit.
140 Euro pallets are needed to transport a total of 40 tons of equipment for a mobile German Red Cross hospital in a war zone. These remain at the site, because their return transport would be uneconomical. "In the past, the Euro pallets were used for sidewalks or by locals as firewood or otherwise. This form of use is unsustainable, because the Euro pallet raw material is far too valuable for burning”, says Professor Gardemann, specialist in Paediatrics and a former state physician of the DRK.
In the member companies of the EPAL, in 2011 some 68 million Euro pallets and 500.000 cages were produced. The 15 national associations (committees) are responsible for quality assurance in the countries. With some 450 million Euro pallets and approximately 50 million Euro box pallets, EPAL charge carriers are among the most popular reusable cargo carriers in the world. All modern transport and storage systems in Europe orient themselves on the dimensions of the EPAL/EUR pallets.
The idea of building an enclosed space from Euro pallets occurred to Professor Gardemann out of necessity during the course of his international work. “In the mobile Red Cross hospitals that we build in crisis areas, due to the prevailing poverty thefts of valuable medications occur. These are relatively easy to access, because there are no closed rooms available in the tent hospitals."
Students of the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Applied Sciences Muenster designed a simple building system of Euro pallets that can be used globally in hot spots of the German Red Cross. The structural system for burglar-proof pharmacies is only technically feasible because Euro pallets are standardised.
Thus, due to their quality Euro pallets are not only a dependable means of transport but also serve the helpers as building blocks for their pharmacies.