People not following the recommended mandates and precautions as well as the acute shortage of protective gear, healthcare supplies, and medical equipment always make any novel situation even more challenging. Talking about the ongoing pandemic, the spread of COVID-19 is a crucial task for healthcare service providers.
However, most hospitals across the globe need to stay ready for the possible arrival of Coronavirus sufferers. The very first thing they need to have is an isolation room air cleaner to isolate the patients while providing them with the treatment and care they need.
Importance of Isolation Room Air Cleaners
During the unprecedented times, the ventilation systems of the hospitals must be in a properly functioning condition. The COVID pandemic has elevated the importance of isolation room cleaner more than ever.
Specifically, in hospitals where certain groups of people are more vulnerable to viruses than others.
These people may include newborn babies, children, immune-compromised patients, etc. Indeed, visitors and hospital personnel are also at risk of contracting airborne infections.
What makes Negative Room Pressure important?
Viruses, fungi, gases, volatile organic compounds, bacteria, etc. are some of the sorts of airborne microorganisms you can find in medical centers and hospitals. A negative pressure room in these institutions prevents cross-contamination from one place to another.
It is an isolation technique that includes ventilation to enable airflow to naturally get into the isolation rooms and flow throughout the areas with higher pressure to spaces with lower pressure.
Thereby, it prevents contaminated air from flowing away from the rooms. This isolation technique is used to isolate people suffering from airborne infections like measles, tuberculosis, influenza, Covid-19, etc.
Areas to Negatively Pressurize
The spaces in medical centers and hospitals to be negatively pressurized are public waiting areas, airborne infection isolation rooms, laboratory workplaces, emergency department decontamination, autopsy rooms, sorting and storage rooms, spaces in the sterile processing department, soiled workrooms, triage, radiology waiting rooms, bathrooms, and janitors’ closets. The areas listed can affect not only patients but also the hospital workforce and visitors.
Isolation Rooms with Negative Pressure
These rooms are customarily used for sufferers with acute disease and viruses like Crornavirus. A person suffering from this virus can spread it among people.
Most medical facilities place patients infected with COVID-19 in the isolation rooms with negative pressure if the resources allow.
What are Positive Pressure Rooms Essential for?
Positive pressure is useful in spaces close by a negative pressure room. The pressure of air in a positive pressure room is higher than the pressure outside. These rooms are considered to be the cleanest areas in hospitals.
The positive pressure ensures that the airborne pathogens do not infect patients or supplies present in the room. The best use of positive pressure can be in the operating areas to protect both the patients and surgical supplies.
Hospitals can rework on the HVAC duct systems to get the particular air pressure in some specific rooms. But remodeling the entire system to create negative and positive pressure rooms can be an expensive project. However, there are some unique options medical institutions can opt for.
The first technique can be a high dose of UV radiation settled into the HVAC systems. This process can be quite costly. The other option to protect the patients is the HEPA air purification system, a recently developed commercial product for medical applications.
HEPA air purification system: When it should be implemented?
The outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic has made everyone understand the importance of respiratory health and air quality. Each day comes with reports of an increasing number of COVID-19 sufferers and an acute shortage of protective equipment.
A patient room HEPA cleaner is useful for creating negative and positive pressure isolation rooms. The equipment is used to purify the air in various critical spaces in the hospitals and the gathering points.
The HEPA air purification system is also recommended for high traffic public areas and all medical facilities like waiting rooms, offices, assessment areas, and long-term care facilities.
All such spaces are the potential infection zones for the spread of airborne viruses. Implementing HEPA air purification systems can help minimize the risk of any infectious illnesses spreading within these areas.
If rooms, specifically in the medical institutions are not adequately pressurized, airborne infections and viruses can easily escape putting the patients’, hospital staff, and visitors’ health at risk.
