Winnebago and the American Lung Association team up to fight cancer

We reported a while ago that Winnebago was planning on going all-electric with its commercial vehicle division. These rigs are used primarily by the health care industry as mobile medical units for collecting blood. On Monday though, Winnebago unveiled a new trick for the battery-electric RV -- it's hauling around the world's first mobile full-body 32-slice CT scanner.

The CT scanner is built by Samsung and is part of an outfit for a Mobile Lung Unit that's designed to bring medical care to high-risk, low-income areas that might not have access to the kind of specialized equipment necessary to scan effectively for lung cancer.

In addition to the cool new CT scanner, the electric drivetrain of the vehicle means it doesn't have to worry about anti-idling laws that are present in many cities to help protect against the pollutants and particulate from diesel trucks. After all, having a mobile lung cancer scanning RV that is belching out lung cancer-causing chemicals kind of sends the wrong message.

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"We are proud to help increase access to life-saving lung cancer screenings in the clean, quiet and emissions free environment of the first all-electric Mobile Lung Unit," said Ashis Bhattacharya, vice president of strategic planning and development, and leader of Winnebago's Specialty Vehicles Division. "As states provide incentives and broaden anti-idling laws, we expect the medical community to adopt the customizable all-electric community outreach vehicle for a variety of functions, such as lung cancer screening, asthma management and support, blood donation, dentistry or primary care."

Individuals who feel they might be at risk for lung cancer can go to SavedByTheScan.org to see if they are eligible for free lung cancer screening through the American Lung Association.