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Adding Isolation Surge Capacity
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Adding Patient Care Isolation Surge Capacity to Hospitals & Healthcare
Facilities
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If a disaster response includes the need for patient isolation to contain disease and/or to protect healthcare workers, the number of individual patient isolation rooms becomes important. The 2007 Hospital Preparedness Program guidelines discuss implementing a bed tracking system, and one of the categories is negative pressure isolation to contain infectious diseases. Abatement Technologies HEPA-CARE Air Purification Systems, with 99.99% efficient HEPA filters at 0.3 microns, are Class II medical devices. They convert standard patient rooms into CDC, OSHA and ASHE/AIA-compliant PE and/or AII rooms at a fraction of the cost of typical “design and build” methods. You'll have the flexibility to relocate air filtration equipment to another room quickly, adding isolation wards or patient isolation surge capacity to new or existing facilities easily. Portable air purification models roll quietly to wherever you need them at a moments notice. Used for days, weeks or months at a time, these highly mobile units provide the greatest flexibility to economically increase surge isolation capacity. |
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Ceiling-mounted air purification models install flush with the ceiling grid and are the perfect choice for permanent patient isolation rooms. Ceiling mounted models are completely out of the way and offer the highest level of tamper-resistance. With versatile modes of operation, Abatement HEPA-CARE Air Purification Systems are engineered to operate 24/7. Click to view the modes of operation animations. |
In addition, HEPA filtered air contributes to an excellent patient wellness strategy even when negative pressure isolation is not required. Contact us and ask to speak with a healthcare specialist to learn more about the benefits of negative pressure, HEPA filtered air for your hospital or healthcare facility.
"Adding in-room portable HEPA air cleaners can supplement the overall cleanliness on an ongoing basis, provide better air movement to prevent one patient from infecting another, and would be in place and available in case of an extraordinary outbreak of a highly infectious event." –Air Management as a Patient Wellness Protocol, Engineering Systems July, 2007:16-18.
Response to a large-scale disaster is initially a facility-based response,
which starts with
opening up beds and space. Non-critical patients can be discharged, elective
procedures can be cancelled, private rooms can be converted to double
rooms and beds can be placed in flat-space areas. Mass patient-isolation
areas can be achieved within the facility.
"...approximately 10% - 20% of a hospital's operating bed capacity can be mobilized within a few hours ... with an additional 10% from conversion of "flat space" areas such as lobbies, waiting rooms, classrooms, conference facilities, physical therapy areas, and hallways." –Health Care Facility and Community Strategies for Patient Care Surge Capacity, Annals of Emergency Medicine 2004; 44: 253-261.
The conclusion, written in the Ann Emerg Med 2004;44:628-634 article, “Use of a Portable Forced Air System to Convert Existing Hospital Space into a Mass Casualty Isolation Area,” is that using HEPA air filtration units to create a large negative pressure area within a hospital is a cost-effective, easy and fast conversion method to achieve a large bed capacity using existing hospital flat-space.
Abatement Technologies HEPA-AIRE® Portable Air Filtration (PAS) units, in conjunction with our anterooms and other solutions, can quickly and economically convert or reconfigure a wing, a large corridor, a conference room, or even an off-site area such as a gymnasium or mobile tent system into a large isolation area. |
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Transition space, frequently referred to as an anteroom, between common space and a flat-space conversion area is an important part of your mass patient isolation solution. An anteroom provides a buffer between a potentially contaminated area and other areas. It can be negatively or positively pressurized to control the direction of airflow to protect hospital personnel, other patients and visitors.
For more information on our anteroom solutions, click for a brochure on the Ante Up Inflatable Emergency Anteroom or the AG3100MCCK AIRE GUARDIAN AR. To help you choose the best anteroom product for your application, contact us to speak with a healthcare specialist. |
Abatement Technologies provides two effective and easy to setup anteroom solutions: The Ante Up™ Inflatable Emergency Anteroom and the AG3100MCCK AIRE GUARDIAN® AR. Both easily allow a gurney to pass through and include ports to allow HEPA air filtration systems to work in the anteroom.
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In the event of a flu pandemic, bioterrorism or other mass casualty event, on-site bed capacity can quickly become saturated, leading to the need for alternative-site conversion to augment bed-capacity and create negative-pressure isolation. Abatement Technologies offers various sizes of HEPA-AIRE Portable Air Filtration (PAS) units, which quickly and economically provide HEPA-filtered air, additional air changes and negative pressure.
"When these [facility-based] resources are exceeded, community-based solutions, including the establishment of off-site hospital facilities, may be implemented... including use of local convention centers..." –Health Care Facility and Community Strategies for Patient Care Surge Capacity, Annals of Emergency Medicine 2004; 44:253-261.
The Department of Health and Human Services' AHRQ Web site, www.ahrq.gov, has information on both on-site and off-site* conversion to increase the number of beds available. An Alternative Care Site Selection Matrix Tool is available at http://www.ahrq.gov/research/altsites/alttool1.htm to help rank alternative care sites based on necessary features such as conditioned air supply, showers and toilets and space to prepare food. The matrix includes schools, hotels, convention centers, sports arenas, churches and fairgrounds.
*Rocky Mountain Regional Care Model for Bioterrorist Events: Locate Alternate Care Sites During an Emergency. AHRQ Publication No. 04-0075, August 2004. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov.
1. Select appropriate strategies for isolating patients:
2. Select the HEPA air filtration systems and containment methods and
supplies for each
type of conversion area:
3. Formulate a strategic plan for placement and movement of equipment
and supplies
throughout facility, community or region for maximum speed of deployment
and flexibility
to respond to various types of disasters.
4. Designate and train personnel in fast conversion of spaces and operation of equipment.
Call Abatement Technologies at 800-634-9091 and ask to speak with a healthcare specialist to assess and discuss your patient isolation surge options.
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