Recent events in the news have brought to prominence the need for quarantine rooms which protect people outside of the isolation rooms from airborne contaminants. Does your hospital have enough isolation rooms and is the pressure relationship properly controlled and monitored? Infectious airborne pathogens, such as viruses and bacteria are most commonly introduced to the hospital by incoming patients. Since hospitals and clinics are often the first place people go when they are sick, it is important to design facilities that can sustain an influx of patients in the event of a pandemic outbreak.
To do so, the directional airflow from the adjacent spaces (corridors) to the isolation should always be into the isolation room. Therefore the isolation room should have a negative pressure relationship to the adjacent spaces. Air exhausted from the isolation room should not be recirculated but exhausted in a preferably dedicate exhaust system with bag-in bag-out HEPA filters.
Control of the negative isolation room is best achieved with volumetric tracking utilizing accurate and reliable airflow control valves on the room supply and exhaust air. By exhausting slightly more air from the space than is supplied, make up air must be drawn in from outside the isolation room creating a negative pressure relationship.
Room pressure monitoring is also an imperative. A permanently installed, pressure-monitoring device with visual and audible alarm to ensure that the isolation room is pressurized as specified.
Air Equipment Company with offices in Louisville and Lexington, KY has over 20 years of experience designing, providing and servicing critical environment pressurization, temperature and humidity controls. Utilizing state of the art products from Phoenix Controls, we have helped hospitals around the Commonwealth of Kentucky assure proper isolation room ventilation and pressurization control in over 200 spaces.
Please contact any one of our experienced Sales Application Engineers with your critical environment needs.
