Hospital ERs designed to contain any airborne exposures
Sitting in the emergency department at the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance (CKHA) sucks.
Literally.
The air circulation system is in a negative pressure situation, meaning it sucks in air every time a door is opened.
That is to ensure any airborne germs that might be in the department don’t migrate to other parts of the hospital.
And Alex Sullo, director of facilities and support services for CKHA, said they don’t hang around there long, as the air in the emergency department is replaced 12 times an hour.
That’s every five minutes.
“The volume of air is vacated and replaced with filtered outside air and some recirculated air,” he said. “It’s all through HEPA filters.”
HEPA (high efficiency particulate air) filters are designed to remove dust, pollen, mold, bacteria and particulate from the air.
In regard to the negative pressure in the emergency department, Sullo said it is designed to contain.
“We want to keep everything that is in that area within that area so it doesn’t migrate outside of it,” he said.
Being negatively pressured means any contaminants that might be brought into the emergency department would not migrate out of it. Instead, they get carried away by the ventilation system.
With airborne illnesses such as measles, that means other parts of the hospital are extremely unlikely to be impacted if there is an exposure in the emergency department.
And with measles, Sullo said the Frank and Mary Uniac Auditorium, located close to the emergency department entrance in Chatham, was opened as a temporary pre-screening location for people showing symptoms of having measles.
“We were trying to keep people who had symptoms from entering the building, hoping to contain any spreads that way,” he said. “The auditorium was modified to create that negative pressure too.”
CKHA has a number of rooms located throughout the hospital that have similar ventilation processing as the emergency department. They are known as AIIRs (Airborne Infection Isolation Rooms).
They too have their air recirculated 12 times an hour and are negatively pressured. They are for patients that are admitted and require isolation.
