Mobile High-Containment Isolation: A Unique Patient Care Modality
Abstract
During the past 15 years, several infectious viral hemorrhagic diseases, including Marburg disease, Lassa fever, and Ebola fever, have been identified. These, and other exotic diseases, are defined as highly virulent transmissible conditions caused by dangerous pathogens for which patients require specialized handling and care. High-containment isolation provides a means whereby a patient, laboratory specimens, or both can be physically separated by a microbiologic barrier, yet safely handled by attending personnel. High-containment isolation incorporates three basic principles: protective barrier, negative pressure, and filtered air. The Trexler Patient Isolator System, developed by C.P. Trexler and manufactured by Vickers, Ltd., Basingstoke, England, consists of three units: the Stretcher Isolator (SI), the Aircraft Transit Isolator (ATI), and the Bed Isolator (BI). Each unit encloses the patient in a negatively pressurized transparent polyvinyl chloride (PVC) chamber. Air is exhausted actively from the unit, creating a partial vacuum, or negative pressure, and allowing passive air intake. Air entering and exiting the units is filtered through high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters that remove a minimum of 99.7% of all particles ranging in size from 0.02 to 2.0 um.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 1987
- Accession Number
- ADA185954
Entities
People
- Dennis M. Driscoll
- Katherine E. Wilson
Organizations
- United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases