Portable Isolation System for ED

A collapsible, negative-pressure isolation chamber is being tested to determine how it might aid life-saving operational procedures in the emergency department.

The test is being conducted by investigators at the Institute for International Emergency Medicine and Health (IEMH) at Harvard's teaching hospital, Brigham and Women's (Boston, MA, USA). The investigators are using integrated computer systems and manikins to simulate a wide array of medical procedures and to evaluate how their performance inside the chamber affects patient and team safety. The chamber can be erected within 20 minutes within a hospital to provide a full isolation solution and then be stored away when not needed.

"We are excited to have the opportunity to participate in an entirely new approach to the creation of isolation capabilities within hospitals, said Mark Davis, M.D., director of the IEMH. The test is being conducted in the Stratus Center, an emergency room simulation facility at Brigham and Women's Hospital.

The isolation system, called IsoArk, is manufactured by Beth-El Zikhron Yaaqov Industries (Yaaqov, Israel). The company is a supplier of chemical, biologic, and radiologic protection technology. "The IsoArk gives hospitals a cost-effective alternative to the huge investments in infrastructure spent on patient isolation,” noted Dan Collier, vice president, business development, Collective Protection Engineering, Inc. (Halethorpe, MD, USA), Beth El's marketing representative in the United States.





Related Links:
Brigham and Women's Hospital
Collective Protection Engineering