Authors (including presenting author) :
Ng KW (1), Chow T T(1)
Affiliation :
(1) Facility Management Department, Kwong Wah Hospital
Introduction :
During the COVID-19 epidemic, Facility Management Department of KWH had modified General Wards into CoVID-19 Surveillance Wards in order to meet the increased demand of isolation facilities. Specific cubicles were designated as Observation Room (OR) or Resuscitation Room (RR) for suspected CoVID-19 in the surveillance wards with 12 air change per hour for specific clinical procedures such as Aerosol Generating Procedures (AGP). To protect staff from the high risk AGP, air purifier equipped with HEPA filter becomes essential in the clinical setting. But floor-stand HEPA filter air purifier alone is not effective because the air intake location is nearly 1.5m apart from the site of the aerosol generating procedures. An extended chute to focus the air intake directly at the site of aerosol generating zone is crucial. Unfortunately, this kind of air purifier is not popular in the local market and similar products were even sold out during the pandemic.
Objectives :
To provide a safe work place for clinical staff by installing an independent seduction duct to be added onto the existing HEPA Filter Air Purifier.
Methodology :
FMD explored an independent seduction duct to be added onto the existing HEPA Filter Air Purifier. Upon repeated design modifications, testing and commissioning, an air purifier with chute that had better performance than the market leader was produced by the engineering team of FMD. The airflow rate improved from 25% (1st generation) to 95% (4th generation) by adding the seduction duct to the HEPA Filter Air Purifier and the said duct passed the onsite tests with satisfactory result using the aerodynamic visual testing. To ensure effectiveness of the use of the air purifier with local produced chute, OSH and ICN also applied the 5S concept at ward so that the positions of patient trolley, emergency trolley and HEPA Filter Air Purifier were marked on the ground in advance to ensure a safe environment for the AGP.
Result & Outcome :
The HEPA Filter Air Purifier with Local Chute was highly appraised by the OSH Team, Infection Control Team, departments of critical care service of the hospital and even members of OSHC Committee and the original manufacturer of the air purifier. The original manufacturer of the HEPA Filter Air Purifier had studied our seduction duct design and further improved it in mid-2020 and make it a standard sellable accessories in the end of 2020.
