Hospital Launches Landmark Emergency Medici...( Innovative Concepts for ER One to ...),Health

Innovative Concepts for ER One to be Studied for First Time in Patient

Setting

WASHINGTON, Jan. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Washington Hospital Center took a major step forward today in the federally funded Project ER One initiative as it unveiled innovative technologies and design solutions in its Emergency Department. These advances are meant to improve patient care, and better position the hospital to respond to a mass casualty event in the nation's capital.

This marks the first time that many of these ER One concepts, which are designed to improve infection control and increase surge capacity have been used in an emergency care setting.

The new features include:

-- Negative pressure isolation rooms to prevent spread of infectious

agents

-- Oversized rooms that can be used for up to three patients

-- Clinical lab space in the Emergency Department to expedite blood tests

-- Rooms that can be sterilized with vaporized hydrogen peroxide (Steris,

Inc)

-- Walls made of Corian (R) to provide a cleaner environment (DuPont)

-- Surfaces coated with antimicrobial material to reduce infections

(Agion)

-- Newly designed nursing stations to improve work flow (Herman Miller)

-- Ultra wide band tracking technology for easy location of equipment

(Parco)

-- Communications system to provide better relay of patient data (Cisco)

-- Technology that provides staff with faster access to patient

information (Microsoft)

Washington Hospital Center will study the use of these innovations, which draw on the concepts developed for ER One, to determine if they would be valuable in an all-risks ready emergency care facility.

"This is a pivotal project in the field of emergency medicine," said Mark S. Smith, MD, chairman of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Washington Hospital Center and director of the ER One In
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