Containment testing of isolation rooms.
Results from the tracer containment testing of four 'state-of-the-art' airborne infection isolation rooms, in a new hospital, are presented. A testing technician exited an isolation room several minutes after a small quantity of tracer gas was injected over the patient bed in that room. Easily measurable tracer gas concentrations were then found in the anterooms outside the patient rooms and corridor outside the isolation room suites. Containment factors for the isolation rooms and dilution factors in the anterooms and corridor were calculated, based on the measured tracer concentrations. These results indicate the desirability of evidence-based design standards and guidelines for assessing performance of airborne infection isolation rooms. The study also demonstrates that the tracer testing procedure yields comparable results for equivalent isolation room suites, suggesting good reproducibility of the testing method.
Rydock
J P
JP
Norwegian Building Research Institute, Høgskoleringen 7, NO-7491 Trondheim, Oslo, Norway. james.rydock@byggforsk.no
Eian
P K
PK
D000336:Aerosols; D000391:Air Microbiology / Q000592:standards*; D000392:Air Movements; D003264:Containment of Biohazards / Q000592:standards; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000517:prevention & control; D004780:Environment, Controlled; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D006801:Humans; D017053:Infection Control / Q000592:standards*; D007374:Interior Design and Furnishings / Q000592:standards; D010356:Patient Isolation / Q000592:standards*; D010362:Patients' Rooms / Q000592:standards*; D013459:Sulfur Hexafluoride; D014691:Ventilation / Q000592:standards
D000336:Aerosols; D013459:Sulfur Hexafluoride