The company C4 Control de Contaminación Ltda. brings for this edition of the magazine ACR LATINOAMÉRICA a positive success story advanced in the University Hospital of the Valley, in Colombia, where the installation of a complex HVAC system was made.by: Santiago Jaramillo H.
The project in this Colombian hospital center, which is considered one of the largest in this South American country, included the design and installation of an HVAC system for two neurosurgery rooms with high air quality and standby system that will allow complex and prolonged interventions with the least risk of contamination to the patient.
The Hospital Universitario del Valle is a public institution of high complexity, which normally has more than 100% occupancy all year round, with about 800 beds and that attends all kinds of services.
The motivation to advance this work, as recognized by the representatives of the C4 company, was basically due to the need to have a highly reliable room that delivered the best possible air quality generating the least risk to the patient, despite the fact that in Colombia there are no specific rules for these rooms.
Project Details
In general terms, the project carried out by C4 in this health institution included the integration of the production of a high-performance AHU, the installation and adaptation of the space, the architectural design to house the new equipment, an automatic control system that allows standby and a special air distribution system.
As for the details of the equipment used, the intervening company noted that a high-performance AHU (UMA or air handling unit) was used that integrates third-generation filters with a long life completely sanitizable and high efficiency on particles, a temperature and humidity control system according to the type of surgeries and an electronic ventilation that guarantees the volume of air permanently and without risk. It also equipped the hospital with laminar air distributors that carry out the distribution in a directed way and according to the location of the exhibition areas.
Regarding the advantages or benefits obtained by the end customer, Carlos Manuel Flórez, Technical Manager of C4 Pollution Control, told ACR LATINOAMÉRICA that "critical systems sometimes cannot be easily measured by their benefits, it would be ideal to be able to say: before we had equis days of hospitalization and now we have equis days less, but these factors are not measured in our environment, what is achieved is a feeling of security and support that accompanied by a permanent verification service, gives the peace of mind of performing complex surgeries without these generating complications or adverse events, "he emphasizes.
Regarding the technical or logistical difficulties that arose during the installation process, our guest warns that the greatest difficulty was to make an architectural design that allowed the installation of a complex system in an old building with height restrictions and with structural reinforcement that blocked the passage of air systems.
In the same way, and referring to the choice of his company for the development of the project, Carlos Manuel emphasizes that "usually the client who selects C4 and its brand of equipment, is looking for maximum reliability and total responsibility for the result of the system beyond the sale of comfort or simple compliance with established standards".
Results
In any intervention, as is more than logical, the results will always be the main thermometer of satisfaction, and the project developed by C4 Pollution Control at the Hospital Universitario del Valle, in Colombia, is no exception, although the measurement parameters for this type of development, in a place where there is often no time to do them, this is usually imperceptible in the eyes of the common.
"In a public hospital with more than 100% occupancy with the level of stress it generates, you do not have the client even close, nor easy to give you personal opinions, and there are so many professionals who go through these areas that they do not know sometimes what air system they have, they are only 'passive' beneficiaries of good air quality. And patients know much less about where and with what air quality they are operating, however when carrying out the evaluations and comparing them with measurements in other hospitals we see with pleasure how the quality is much higher and is constant, "says the representative of C4.
In short, an impeccable intervention, which in a discreet but extremely efficient way, enhanced the proper functioning of the air system of this hospital center.
"It is important to highlight that a good project also requires excellent support in measurements, verifications and validation. The company C4-Pascal supports us in this process that is not only important during the execution of the project but during the useful life of the system, because the key systems also require critical management and that is what C4-Pascal is dedicated to", underlines Carlos Manuel Flórez
