How COVID-19 Forced Hospitals to Build Negative Pressure Rooms
Faced with increased patient loads infected with a virus that spreads through the air, hospitals needed a solution. These institutions have effective isolation down to a literal science. But the pandemic came on relatively quickly and, with it, they needed solutions that were airtight (also literally) and quick to set up.
Enter the negative pressure room, a relatively simple piece of technology that has proven essential for hospitals facing increased patients infected with COVID-19. Using negative pressure machines, these rooms are helping contain the virus and keep patients and staff safe.
But what precisely is a negative pressure room? How do they work? And how did hospitals come to rely on them during the pandemic? Let’s look at each piece for a better understanding of the rising importance of negative pressure machines during the pandemic.
What is a Negative Pressure Room?
A negative pressure room is a room that is completely enclosed and isolated in terms of ventilation and airspace that uses negative pressure machines to move and filter air.
Unlike regular ventilation, which push air into a room, negative pressure rooms draw air out of one. This creates a vacuum effect that pulls air in rather than the other way around. The benefit of such a machine is it draws the air into where it needs to go next. In the case of a room that is likely full of airborne COVID-19 virus, this is an effective way to properly contain the virus, send it through a filtration system and safely move the air outside or through preferred ducting.
In general, a negative pressure room ventilates directly outside so that the air isn’t recycled within the facility. As such, negative pressure machines are usually attached to ducting that leads outside.
The Impact of COVID-19 on Hospital Containment Strategies
It’s no secret that the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted and even overwhelmed hospitals around the world. When these institutions usually see an influx of patients, it’s because of a big accident or contained health crisis. A global pandemic, however, means that the people coming into the hospital are also needing to be contained to limit the spread of COVID-19 to other patients.
COVID-19’s path to infection involves moving through droplets of water that are made airborne when an infected person breathes or coughs. This is why social distancing suggests staying outside the distance that these drops usually take to settle. Since the virus can stay airborne and can last a long time in these droplets, hospitals have needed an isolation system that can remove infected air from a space completely, rather than having it recirculated inside of the space. It also requires that the space be completely sealed to ensure air cannot go back the way it came. Hence, a solution that moves air in one direction is ideal, making negative pressure rooms apt.
Since the virus is passed via droplets that hang in the air, air quality has become the top priority, and the reason hospitals are relying on isolation techniques like negative pressure rooms. With that comes a need for effective containment rooms that are easy to set up, relatively inexpensive and effective at containing contaminated airborne particles. It’s for this reason that a negative pressure room has become the go-to solution.
The Advantages of Prioritizing Negative Pressure Machines
Negative pressure machines, as discussed, are an effective and relatively inexpensive solution that can be quickly set up. For hospitals facing waves of COVID-19 patients, this means a space can be quickly outfitted with the required machines and turned into a negative pressure room to use right away. These machines can be rented or bought outright, making them financially viable for hospitals with budgetary concerns.
If you are in the healthcare industry and looking for isolation techniques that work, then a negative pressure room may be the right option. Relatively inexpensive with flexible financial solutions, quick to set up, and effective at containing airborne viruses, these rooms are fast becoming the go-to solution for hospitals around the world. As the global pandemic continues, the need for negative pressure rooms will surely increase, either for COVID-19 or whatever is next.