We breathe dirty air in – and out – all the time. Pollution and contamination can come from a variety of sources, including ourselves: the outer layer of human skin can host up to 1 million microorganisms per square cm and human saliva up to 1 billion per mL.
Bacteria is usually the primary concern, but foreign organic matter, viruses, fungi, algae are included in the pollutants around us all the time in normal everyday life.
In any environment where avoiding contamination is essential, such as during surgical operations or in the manufacture of new medicines, a clean air environment must be established, maintained and monitored to ensure safety for patients, personnel and products. Particulate-free air is achieved through the use of HEPA filters employing laminar or turbulent airflow principles. Air is kept sterile since it is renewed several times an hour thanks to these special HEPA air filters, which retain all types of particles in suspension, including pathogenic elements. However, to ensure they are always working at the optimum level and keep clean air environments within the parameters considered as standard, regular servicing and validation by a trusted and independent facilities management provider is essential – simply providing clean airflow is not enough, it must be expertly maintained too, ensuring:
• Correct airflow rates
• Correct hierarchy of cleanliness
• Adequate pressure differentials between rooms
UK company Medical Air Ltd combines the design and provision of laminar flow operating theatres, cleanroom, and laboratories through Medical Air Technology (MAT), with independent service and validation through its facilities management wing, MAT FM, delivering an end-to-end service from a company that truly understands clean air environments from start to finish and is committed to ensuring all equipment used in the vital delivery of HEPA-filtered air works at optimum level throughout its lifecycle.
Clean Air Environments
• Healthcare Settings
HTM 03-01 states: “Ultra-clean ventilation systems (which are designed to provide a zone around the patient that is effectively free of bacteria-carrying airborne particles while the operation is in progress) have been shown to significantly reduce surgical site infection in patients undergoing large joint replacement surgery. Their use for other forms of surgery may well be indicated.”
Reducing healthcare-associated infections (HCAIs) remains high on the Government’s safety and quality agenda and in the general public’s expectations for quality of care. NHS England has stated that approximately 300,000 patients a year in England are affected by an HCAI as a result of care within the NHS, costing the health service millions of pounds. High standards of infection prevention and control practice can minimise risk, and a hospital’s ultraclean ventilation (UCV) system or canopy can help to ensure this high standard is reached and sustained. MAT’s unique ECO-flow™ range of ultraclean ventilation canopies was developed to help hospitals in the battle against perioperative infection, and is used in hospitals throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland to support better patient outcomes.
However, although hospitals have a statutory requirement to provide ultraclean theatres for certain types of surgery, in the current financial climate they may not be able to replace and upgrade these facilities as often as they would like, and have to rely increasingly on ongoing service, maintenance and validation to ensure everything is compliant with requirements and working correctly.
• Cleanrooms and Containment Laboratories
Typically used in manufacturing or scientific research, a cleanroom or containment laboratory is a controlled environment that has a low level of pollutants such as dust, airborne microbes, aerosol particles, and chemical vapours. Cleanrooms are used in practically every industry where small particles can adversely affect the manufacturing process and where reliable and accurate measurements are essential.
Cleanrooms are designed to keep levels of contamination within the aseptic area under the parameters considered as standard. This type of room arises from the need to process pharmaceutical, food, cosmetic products and more, and ensure not only their quality, but also that they are free of microbes and bacteria dangerous to health - in other words, avoiding both direct product contamination and cross contamination between products. A containment laboratory utilises airflow to prevent potentially toxic particles from leaving the controlled area.
MAT designs and builds cleanrooms and containment laboratories that provide the safest and most efficient environment for the preparation of medication or the physical containment of highly pathogenic organisms, creating fully sealed environments with bespoke HEPA filter air conditioning systems.
The Importance of Regular Maintenance and Validation
Regular verification and testing of ventilation systems is essential in order to identify potential faults, as substandard systems, or problems with air filtration, could result in a high level of potentially-harmful microbiological organisms being present during medical procedures or drug research and manufacture.
MAT FM is committed to ensuring every clean air facility functions as well as possible for as long as possible, and offers a range of planned and reactive service and maintenance options. The dedicated team of Service Engineers provides aftercare service and support for all core products and turnkey packages offered by Medical Air Technology (MAT), and worldwide service and validation of healthcare and pharmaceutical critical air systems, all supported by a full spares supply network.
MAT FM has a team of specialist technicians located throughout Britain, all equipped with fully stocked vehicles so they can respond to service calls as quickly as possible. Company warehouses are stocked with spare parts for all major UCV and laminar flow systems and work can be scheduled for weekday or weekend for minimum disruption.
