PDC 2002: ER One Project

From: Subject: PDC 2002: ER One Project Date: Tue, 21 Oct 2003 10:17:55 +0300 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/html; charset="Windows-1252" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Location: http://www.aia.org/aah/reports/pdc2002_EROne.asp X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1165 PDC 2002: ER One Project


	PDC 2002:=20 Essential Partners in Patient Care International=20 Conference and Exhibition on Health Facility Planning, Design and=20 Construction C O = N F E R E N=20 C E P R O C E E D I N G S by Sara Malone and John Blignaut, = AIA

		This = conference,=20 sponsored by the AIA Academy of Architecture for Health and the = AAH=20 American Society for Healthcare Engineering , was held in Orlando, = FL,=20 March 24-27, 2002. Conference=20 Sessions PDC = 2002=20 Overview Keynote: = Update=20 on the End of Healthcare as We Know It ER One=20 Project The = Inpatient=20 Care Unit of Today and Tomorrow JCAHO = Update=20 Green = Buildings=20 Exploring= =20 the Issues of Sustainable Design in Healthcare What If=20 We're Wrong? Functional Programming in a Time of=20 Uncertainty Business = Case=20 for Healing Environmental Design Academy Home Page =
ER One Project Craig Feied, MD, Director of = Informatics, Washington Hospital Center Michael Pietrzak, MD, = Director,=20 Project ER One, Washington Hospital Center Ralph Hawkins, FAIA, = FACHA,=20 President, HKS, Inc. We now = know that=20 terrorists are intent on our neighborhoods, schools, and = hospitals. But=20 even before September 11, 2001, Washington Hospital Center in = Washington,=20 DC, started looking at a prototypical ER design that could be used = in any=20 emergency situation. The = hospital=20 assembled nine task forces, and invited HKS to participate. They = are now=20 in the middle of this effort. "Disasters don't have=20 to be spawned by terrorists," Feied said. They can be caused by = accidents,=20 violent weather, or epidemics. Emergency departments could be = faced with=20 20 people at a time or 20,000. How do you handle such a disparity? = The goal = of ER One is=20 to be all-risks ready and highly scalable. Its design objectives = are=20 function, aesthetics, and protection. A huge contingency hospital = was not=20 the answer because it could easily sit empty for years. ER One=20 includes: Strategic=20 location=20 Scalability=20 Traffic=20 management=20 Immune = building=20 Blast=20 mitigation The plan = is a=20 flexible configuration of treatment areas and a robust scalability = to move=20 the size up or down quickly within a given template. It has=20 point-of-service capabilities to move patients more rapidly. It = also=20 features specialized capabilities, like special mobile units and = docking=20 stations, to handle things like radioactivity and also multimode=20 decontamination. Traffic management eases the crowding in the = ambulance=20 bay. The = design also had=20 to balance the operational and security requirements. ER One has=20 incorporated threat mitigation because it has to remain open and = safe in a=20 crisis. Washington Hospital Center conducted a needs assessment = and a=20 vulnerability analysis, and determined what must stay open within = a=20 hospital to make that the most protected part. There is a great = deal of=20 vulnerability in emergency departments because, typically, they = must=20 remain open for 24 hours. Part of = the ER One's=20 design is the portal concept. Portals allow you to accommodate = future=20 technologies and provide decontamination security. Immune = facility=20 features include creating seamless walls and coved corners for = easy=20 cleaning, self-decontamination materials, ultraviolet light to=20 decontaminate an empty room, and blister switches on the wall. = The = ventilation=20 systems will be compartmentalized and controlled by a computerized = system=20 that could shut down sectors if they became contaminated and also=20 decontaminate air as it goes through the system. For blast = mitigation,=20 they want to reinforce the hospital's structure, energy absorbing = wall=20 technologies, and laminated glass to reduce sharding. Progressives building=20 collapse is one of the more difficult issues to tackle because = seismic and=20 blast requirements sometimes overlap and are at odds. For example, = girders=20 that allow seismic sway will cause the building to collapse in a = blast.=20 The = attempt to create=20 a healing and a safe environment can also lead to conflict. = Daylighting=20 techniques and natural ventilation can leave a hospital = vulnerable, even=20 as though they are proven to speed patients' healing=20 process. For more = information=20 visit ER One's Web site at http://www.er1.com/.
	Copyright 2002 The = American=20 Institute of Architects. All rights reserved.