The best hospitals in the world are adopting U-Earth systems for hospital infection control and issues related to Legionella, Salmonella, MRSA, TB, etc. in addition to control of chemical, physical and biological risks to patients and workers, through an efficient, fast and economically sustainable solution. The problems solved in the hospital setting are many, ranging from treatment of air contaminated by the exhaust gases of ambulances outside emergency departments, to resolving problems related to odours in departments such as Pathology, control of bacteria and anaesthetic gases in operating rooms, protecting patients from infections in the delicate post-surgery phase or in departments for autoimmune diseases.
Fugitive emissions and odour control.
Odour control is a serious problem for some departments. Some processes operate by masking odours, while others reduce odours. U-Earth systems destroy odours at the source through the process of bio-oxidation, helping to reduce costs and improve patient and carer comfort.
Superior to ventilation
Contaminants and persistent odours travel on particulate matter. These particles are electrically charged. Their motion is controlled by electrical fields, not by air flow because the majority of the particles, to the extent of 98% of all particles, are smaller than 0.5 microns, and therefore have a mass too small to respond to gravity or ventilation. U-Earth systems capture and destroy odours and indoor contaminants in real time, saving energy, improving health and safety, and preventing epidemiologic emergencies.
Superior to activated carbon
U-Earth systems incorporate an advanced spiral element design which eliminates the need for ducts and treats contaminants, such as polar compounds, carbon monoxide and formaldehyde, that activated carbon filters cannot treat. Activated carbon quickly becomes saturated and requires frequent maintenance. U-Earth systems limit or eliminate the cost of replacing activated carbon filters.
EMERGENCY DEPARTMENTS, MEDICAL EXAMINATION ROOMS AND DOCTORS’ SURGERIES
The hospital areas most exposed to contamination from outside are the examination rooms and emergency departments due to the acute condition of the incoming patients. U-Earth is able to control bacterial and viral contamination in these environments while they are in full operation by destroying up to 98% of the bacteria in the air, and simultaneously reducing the particulate matter and VOCs (volatile organic compounds) released by drugs, disinfectants and anaesthetic gases, through the use of AIRcel85 units, properly located and installed within a day.
CASE STUDY : UMDNJ, Ospedale Saronno, Fresenius
HAEMODIALYSIS CENTERS
The areas where patients receive dialysis are areas with a high potential for contamination. Patients remain connected to the haemodialysis machine for over 4 hours, 3/4 times a week, in places frequented by other patients concurrently receiving the same treatment. The best dialysis centres worldwide use U-Earth systems to offer their patients excellent air quality conditions, with the goal of making the treatment session an opportunity for greater oxygenation due to breathing pure air, free of any kind of fine particles, bacteria and allergens.
CASE STUDY: Fresenius Lisbon
OPERATING THEATRES AND DAY SURGERY
Given the delicate nature of the activity carried out in the operating theatres, and because several patients are treated in succession in the same environments, although current technology requirements guarantee the highest possible sterility of the air, U-Earth proves to be an essential aid to the capture of fugitives, like viruses or bacteria, or anaesthetic gases and vapours from drugs. Operating rooms using U-Earth systems can work at full capacity without the need for long turnover times for decontamination, in total safety for the patient and the medical staff.
CASE STUDY: UMDNJ, LABCO
PATHOLOGY DEPARTMENTS
Pathology departments are characterized by very strong odours caused by the cutting of the bodies and the preservation of the specimens in solutions containing formaldehyde. U-Earth systems are able to control odours in addition to eliminating the chemical and bacteriological risk, avoiding unpleasant migration from one department to another due to cross-contamination.
CASE STUDY: UMDNJ, Animal Lab, Trento
MEDICAL LABORATORIES
Medical laboratories are places where bacteriological control and limitation of chemical risks are essential. The use of certain reagents and the characteristics of the samples analysed very often cause lingering odours that are unpleasant for the staff. U-Earth systems desaturate the environment from the odorous molecules, bringing their smell threshold to very low levels that are perfectly bearable.
CASE STUDY: LABCO, Animal Lab
DENTAL PRACTICES
Dental practices are places where the air quality is constantly under threat. Drilling and filing teeth releases fine particles full of bacteria, mercury amalgam and disinfectant. In addition, there is a strong tendency for patients to develop infections after dental surgery.
Although the instruments are sterilized and procedures conducted so as to avoid contamination as much as possible, the air component remains totally beyond control. U-Earth systems, in addition to reducing the bacterial contamination in the air and fine particles by up to 99%, are also excellent systems for capturing anaesthetic gases which are dangerous for the dentist in the event of prolonged exposure.
CASE STUDY: UMDNJ
VETERINARY PRACTICES
Veterinary practices, in addition to having the same bacterial contamination problems and chemical risks as operating theatres in hospitals, so that maximum sterility during surgery is recommended just as for humans, are also usually not equipped with traditional systems for air purification such as laminar flow ventilation given the high cost of installation. In addition, they often find themselves having to deal with the unpleasant odour emanating from the cages where patients are stationed in the process of recovering from surgery.
U-Earth systems are an effective and extremely safe way to provide the vets’ special patients with adequate sterility and comfort for their owners.
CASE STUDY: Animal Lab