Ingenious Overflow Facility Answers COVID-19 Response Needs

By Geoff Frank and Sara Birch, Torrance Memorial

A collaborative effort orchestrated between patient access personnel, ED physicians and nurses, senior leadership, facilities and IT atTorrance Memorial,通过建立紧急服务溢出设施，帮助为目前的大流行做好准备。最初设计用于任何膨胀的灾难，这些灾难将超过每月典型的7,500次达到典型的7,500次，使我们能够通过提高您的紧急情况来迅速解决Covid-19大流行。Covid怀疑或确认抵达ED的患者有独立的候诊室和床，防止病毒与非Covid患者的潜在蔓延。

紧急溢出设施在48小时或更短的时间内成立
选择和将现有空间选择和转化为适当环境的过程，以查看患者需要多个部门的贡献。首先，我们确定了最好的溢出选项是我们的主要停车结构的底层，因为它的物理位置与我们的ED相邻。

Next, working as a team, we mapped out the facility’s design, floor plan and furnishings. This included typical ED supplies and equipment, computer workstations, medication distribution cabinets, printers, scanners and COVID-19 specific items, such as portable imaging equipment for chest x-rays and PPE for anyone working in the area.

Critical to the success of this initiative was extending our Aruba infrastructure to supply pervasive, secure wireless connectivity in this space. The need to replicate healthcare provider workflows also required wired ports to support specialty applications and equipment used by the staff in the ED. As the parking structure’s ceilings are high, this required blanketing 149,000 cubic feet with Wi-Fi to enable laptops, medical devices and workstations on wheels (WOWs) to access to our electronic health record (EHR) system,Cerner.The deployment also included a charging station with 20 iPhones using Mobile Heartbeat, which are used for secure clinical communication throughout the hospital. To complete the layout and support appropriate distancing of patients, chairs were spaced 6 feet apart in groupings such that a care team could be assigned to each section. Heaters and tent like enclosures were added to provide warmth and privacy. Security Officers make rounds in the area and provide continuous surveillance.

我们在此空间中快速提供网络服务的能力受到泊车结构中的户外无线接入点的早期部署的影响。在2019年早些时候在进行灾难钻课时发现了这一要求。有助于开发适当的网络解决方案，我们与我们的集成合作伙伴咨询，可用空间。Together, we determined seven Wi-Fi 6 outdoor APs would provide us with the advanced performance and traffic management capabilities necessary for such a fast-paced, high-density, mobile-centric facility. In addition, the investment would future-proof our deployment for subsequent crisis needs.

Once our cross-functional team completed the rigorous design phase and collected all the components, it took us about 48 hours to assemble and test the facility.

在Covid-19危机中在我们地区过去，我们将拆卸设施并存储许多组件，同时将接入点和交换机留出。使用这种策略，如果需要出现，我们认为重新组装设施将大于48小时。

Other pandemic strategies: Remote work and pop-up sites
Like so many other healthcare providers, we’ve also transitioned many administrative employees to work remotely for safety and business continuity. In our case, it made the most sense to rotate employees between on and off-site work to ensure that IT staff were always available to support our team of healthcare workers.

幸运的是，我们最近通过更高的密度接入点升级了我们的无线基础架构。这为我们提供了一种强大的低密度接入点的库存，我们重新定位和配置为作为远程接入点（RAP）运行。适用于场外家庭官场。

为了适应旋转工地模型，我们创建了一个房屋套餐，包括RAP，有关如何将其连接的信息以及如何与公司发布的设备一起使用。部署与员工报告顺利进行，他们可以在没有事件的情况下在家上起床和运行。

In addition, our networking infrastructure partnership with Aruba is netting us a turnkey solution for establishing pop-up sites with robust connectivity for data, voice and video. This solution can be deployed easily at one of our ambulatory facilities, which could be used to support a community based drive-up triage, testing and treatment facility.

The solution includes software for easily monitoring Wi-Fi performance from a device perspective, which ensures we can troubleshoot and resolve issues quickly, which in turn allows our medical team to stay focused on serving and treating patients.

利用创新以满足新的准备需求
无论目前的大流行如何进展，还是我们可以面对的情况下，我们有信心我们的网络基础设施为我们提供了解决明天的挑战的弹性，可扩展性，安全性和灵活性。

关于作者s
Geoff Frank是IT基础架构运营的经理Sara Birchserves as the Senior Networking and Hosting Engineer for Torrance Memorial, 533-bed, nonprofit medical center established 1925.Torrance Memorial, a雪松西奈affiliate, has been an Aruba client since 2005 and has received numerous最好的医院奖这些年来。

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