Portable Hospital Barriers

In light of the Coronavirus outbreak, hospitals globally have had to rapidly adjust their facilities due to the influx of new patients. While most medical facilities have procedures in place to deal with everyday triage situations, a pandemic can be especially challenging to keep people healthy. Hospitals only have so many beds, and even fewer isolation rooms and ICU units. What happens in situations like COVID-19 or other pandemics, and those areas are all filled while more people still need care? By using portable hospital barriers, medical facilities can help leverage their space during a mass outbreak of disease.

Why Separation is Important

We’ve all heard the term ‘social distancing’ at this point in regards to preventing COVID-19 from spreading. The reason it is so important to separate from other people right now is simply how the virus spreads: From person to person contact. Similar to other diseases and illnesses, someone could be infected with COVID-19, even if they are not exhibiting symptoms. This rule doesn’t change just because the affected people are in a hospital setting. Viruses can still spread in a medical facility despite protocols to prevent that very thing from happening.

Medical Workforce

Especially in a medical location, it is necessary to not only treat the patients who are infected with the virus in question but also protect everyone around them as well. First and foremost, medical staff needs to protect themselves from catching COVID-19. In any pandemic, maintaining the hospital workforce is one of the top priorities because if there is no one to treat the patients, then the virus will only spread further. Unfortunately, the doctors and nurses healing others are the ones highest at risk of catching the illness simply because they are near it every day.

Other Hospital Guests and Visitors

Not only do they need to protect doctors, but also anyone else that enters the hospital as well. Many friends and family of patients would like to visit their loved ones but are then at risk of catching what they have. In addition to guests, there are people admitted to hospitals every day for illnesses completely separate from the Novel Coronavirus. There are plenty of other infectious diseases that don’t go away just because of a pandemic of a different sickness. There need to be precautions to help prevent spreading illnesses to these people while still giving others the treatment and space they need.

How Screenflex Portable Hospital Barriers Can Help

Since hospitals are trying to limit contact with infectious people, creating a physical barrier is essential. Clean check-in areas, patient overflow rooms, and of course, quarantine rooms, are all grounds for using room dividers.

Clear Check-In Barriers

One way to help protect both staff and patients alike is by having a see-through barrier at the check-in desk. Screenflex Clear Dividers are an excellent product for this circumstance. These partitions are 6’2 in height, shielding the average person while standing up. While it doesn’t guarantee to stop all germs from spreading, the barrier at least helps as another line of defense between person to person. It also allows communication to continue freely since those on both sides of the divider can still see the other person and hear them as well. Minimizing contact like this can help slow down the outbreak. Another benefit is the portability of the dividers. They can provide a sturdy barrier while the extra pandemic precautions are in place. When the situation is controlled again, however, the Clear Dividers can be moved and stored until they are needed later on.

Patient Overflow Rooms

Beds fill up fast in a pandemic, and medical centers have to improvise space for additional patients. Standard Room Dividers by Screenflex can help create private spaces in the bigger rooms, or the shared areas as well. These portable walls are an excellent solution for creating a room within a room. These are adaptable to form many shapes and can be adjusted as the needs change. Each partition has locking corner casters that hold them in place to create a sturdy barrier. Any of our fabrics can also be covered with an antimicrobial coating for extra sanitization as well. These are the best temporary solutions for a semi-private area.

Quarantine and Isolation Rooms

Besides for social distancing, the other term we keep hearing in the media is to quarantine. While quarantine separates people exposed to infectious diseases, isolation means to separate the people who have it themselves. Both terms mean to have no contact whatsoever. Hospitals, of course, already have isolation wards for infectious diseases, and many today likely hold patients that have the Coronavirus. When these beds fill up, though, like in general hospital rooms, they need to be the priority. If they can’t fit in the isolation ward, some hospital staff can adjust the Clear Dividers to surround a bed. Allowing a see-through barrier in this case, just like in the check-in area, helps prevent the spread of germs while having an unobstructed view of the other side. Patients and doctors can limit contact with each other while still being able to communicate effectively.

COVID-19 and other infectious diseases can be unsettling in a pandemic situation but need not create panic, especially in a hospital. We hope with the help of Screenflex portable hospital barriers, medical experts can better keep the contagion to a manageable level.