![]() ![]() The outcomeĪt this stage we have progressed the designs to a ‘costing’ level so our client, the Bay of Plenty DHB, can better understand what a project like this will cost. This offers no room for ceiling mounted equipment, so will require an externally mounted system. These rooms can be used for any procedure that exposes the body to contaminants. Some buildings had difficult or restricted ceilings and a recently added fifth clinic is an older prefab building with an extremely low-pitched roof. This negative air pressure helps to prevent the spread of airborne contaminants. CDC guidelines dictate a minimum pressure differential of 0.01-inch water gauge between the exhaust and supply to sustain a negative pressure room. However, despite our skill and experience in this area, designing a solution for these clinics wasn’t clear-cut. In a negative pressure room, air should flow from hallways and corridors (cleaner areas) into the isolation rooms (less clean areas).8,9 This prevents cross-contamination and spread of the virus. We used our expertise in HVAC engineering to design the flow of outdoor air for internal areas and dedicated extract systems for the treatment rooms, all in line with the MoH guidelines. The 2014 FGI Guidelines/ Standard 170-2013 provides lists of rooms that should be positively or negatively pressurized with respect to surrounding areas. Our solutionĪt Jacksons, we are very familiar with negative pressure rooms at Jacksons, having worked on several in New Zealand, including the one at Greenlane Hospital that was built with the emergence of SARS in 2002/2003. Negative pressure is used to contain airborne contaminants within a room. Overall, a system like this will improve infection control and is endorsed by the Bay of Plenty DHB Infection Control team. All three treatment rooms are now closed, negative-pressure isolation rooms in use (we have installed doors with large fixed windows in each room as well). Individual negative pressure dental treatment room Disinfectant hand soap Hand sanitizers are available in every room Gloves and face masks (provided for. This HVAC system would service the entire dental clinic as well. They asked us to give them a report on improving the ventilation in six community-based fixed-site dental clinics, including designing an HVAC system that brings fresh air in and takes stale air out, including aerosols from their treatment rooms. To create an isolated negative pressure room:-Enclose the room-Close off the HVAC to the room to eliminate cross contamination to other spaces-Add ventilation that generates lower pressure than adjacent areas (negative pressure) Ideal for hospitals, extended care facilities, dental offices, and off-site surge space. On the back of the new guidelines, the Bay of Plenty DHB plan to future-proof their Community Health 4 Kids fixed-site dental clinics. These related to urgent or emergency care of COVID-positive patients (or those suspected to be), dictating that only dental surgeries equipped with negative pressure environments could treat these high risk patients. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Health and the Dental Council of New Zealand released new guidelines for dental surgeries to meet.
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