OPERATING ROOM
“Bottom line, if you don’t know what’s lurking in your air, you’re likely making it harder to achieve a sterilized environment,” Birkenes added.
Airthings for Business continuous air quality monitor
system can reduce unneces- sary sterilization cost and increase the shelf life of medical devices.”
Marsden recommends
hospitals employ negative or positive pressure moni- toring in isolation rooms, per CDC guidance; ATP (adenosine triphosphate) testing to show evidence of microbial activity for verifi- cation of cleanliness for criti-
hospitals and other healthcare facili- ties have good reason to identify and address the factors increasing infection risk, including the quality of air in the OR. “Air quality can have a big impact on preventing HAIs, so it is critical that patients are provided the best possible indoor air quality (IAQ), especially in the OR,” said Dan Diehl, CEO of Aircuity. “Key parameters to healthy air in the OR include Total Volatile Organic Compounds (TVOC), particles and dewpoint.”
Monitoring and measuring air quality With an estimated 1 in 25 hospital patients suffering at least one healthcare-associated infection (HAI) each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),3
Diehl explains that if dewpoint/humidity
levels get too high, it can affect equipment performance by damaging circuit boards or other components which were not designed for those levels of humidity exposure. This in turn directly impacts the level of patient care a hospital provides.
To ensure CS/SPD departments have the right air quality ventilation measures and monitoring in place, NUVO Surgical’s Hoffmann suggests hospitals following indoor air quality standards, including ASHRAE guidelines 62.1 and 170 and ISO 14644. These specify that the clean air must be particle free, and the air-filter pore sie should range between . m and a maimum of m. She adds that tests for differential air pressure (minimum, 2.5 Pascals), air velocity (mini- mum, , cfm), air echange rate ( per hour) and air microbiology (measuring bac- terial and fungal colony counts) are required to minimize air impurities in the sterile zone. “The entire CS/SPD decontamination pro-
cesses (from cleaning to sterilization) can only be safe if the surrounding environment is clean and controlled,” she said. “Air should always move from the sterile zone to the dirty zone to avoid cross contamination. Purified and moisture-free air is essential for preparing ster- ile materials and preserving them for a long time. An environmental quality monitoring
The Nuvo Surgical Vidashield UV24 adjunct air purification system
cal equipment and areas; HVAC equipment monitoring operational and maintenance status; and general monitoring of indoor air quality (e.g., temp, humidity, particle counts and evidence of microbial activity). Birkenes says healthcare facilities can lever- age technology solutions for continuous moni- toring of CO2, radon, PM 2.5 and 1, airborne chemicals, virus risk, mold risk, and many more factors that can lead to contamination. “By monitoring for these factors con- stantly, CS/SPD departments can achieve an informed and data-rich knowledge base of what needs to be addressed specifically and where the issue may be stemming from,” Birkenes said. “Once that’s determined, they can take more aggressive action, such as using air sterilization techniques like Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation (UVGI) – but before that can happen, it all starts with diagnosing the problem.”
Diehl recommends facility managers look at both small and large particles, along with dewpoint in each OR suite. Leveraging ven- tilation system readings, they can determine how a particular issue was handled to justify temperature and humidity readings if a regulatory body had any questions during their visit.
“Facility engineers can extract the data and present graphical reports during their monthly meeting with infection control,” said Diehl. “When a question about the condition of a par- ticular space arises, data can also be brought to doctors, nurses and infection control teams to determine whether air quality had any
inuence. Staff can then focus on the clinical side, getting to the root of the problem.”
Using UV to disinfect the air
As the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) states, ultraviolet (UV) radiation has effectively been used for decades to reduce the spread of bacteria and may also be effec- tive in inactivating the SARS-CoV-2 virus.4 Healthcare facilities have been implementing a variety of hospital-grade UV technologies to disinfect the air and surfaces.
When updating its handbook, ASHRAE convened Technical Committee, 2.9, Ultraviolet Air and Surface Treatment to clear up misconceptions regarding UV technolo- gies, with the Committee members expressing the hope that the “pandemic has left no doubt that the 254 nm germicidal wavelength (UVC light) can inactivate the genetic material in the SARS-CoV-2 virus.”5
American Ultraviolet offers a wide range of
UC solutions, including mobile UC, fied mounted surface and air disinfection units, and upper room UVC for occupied spaces including all HVAC applications, all made in America in the company’s main factory in Lebanon, Indiana.
“Our Fixed Mounted UVC packages have
been very popular in healthcare,” said Katja Auer, Clinical Director of Healthcare Solutions at American Ultraviolet. “These packages are unique in that they provide effective and fast cycle times, are easy to use, offer daily automated cycle times, and do not require additional FTEs. They are found in operat- ing rooms, surgical suites and any areas that benefit from adunct UC cleaning in-between patients or procedures and/or after terminal cleaning in an operating suite took place.” Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, American Ultraviolet has been working with multiple robotics companies to develop “truly autonomous UVC robots” for use in healthcare, where they have worked with clients to design and build mobile N95 mask disinfection solutions, and several govern- ment agencies to provide effective solutions for air and surface disinfection.
Aircuity’s centralized, multi-parameter demand control ventilation system
14 December 2021 • HEALTHCARE PURCHASING NEWS •
hpnonline.com
“What makes American Ultraviolet so unique is simply the people working for the
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