The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, categorized as a pandemic by the World Health Organization, has global healthcare systems on high alert to protect their patient populations and workforces. The rapid spread of this novel virus, about which much is still unknown, demands heightened efforts by facilities managers.
With his background in building services and a career spent designing control systems for HVAC systems for hospitals, Chris Roberts, Healthcare Global Solutions Architect, Schneider Electric, and AMFP vice president, brings his perspective to bear in a new blog on how facility managers can work in tandem with hospital leadership and infectious disease specialists to help ensure the efficient and optimal operation of their systems’ HVAC systems. According to Roberts, key considerations that warrant close attention include the maintenance of high volumes of air change rates throughout the facility; the maintenance of negative pressure in the Airborne Infection Isolation Room (AIIR) in relation to surrounding areas; protocols to control access to the AIIR; adjusting and monitoring relative humidity in the AIIR in keeping with current findings; air filtration and removal; and ensuring the safety of resilient power supplies.
For more insight, read the full blog here.