July 20, 2020
Redefining Preparedness for Emergency Department and Hospital Surges
Health experts anticipate that already-taxed healthcare systems may face a simultaneous surge of flu and COVID-19 patients this fall and winter, and recommend that facilities continue to make contingency plans.
The initial COVID-19 response saw many systems implementing temporary remote facilities away from their main campuses. Post-peak analysis has shown that the biggest detriment to the success of offsite locations is lack of supplies, equipment, and staff. Additionally, due to the way COVID-19 attacks a variety of bodily systems, critically ill COVID-19 patients require up to three times the number of providers than other critically ill patients, putting further strain on the availability of providers to work offsite. This suggests that increasing capacity at hospital campuses should be prioritized to maximize the efficient use of equipment, supplies and provider talents.
In this article published on McMillan Pazdan Smith Architecture, RMF’s Beth Crutchfield and Greg Hudson take a look at infrastructure requirements for temporary structures and design strategies for HVAC.