Special Pathogens Unit Nurses Are Already Preparing for the Next New Virus
Original article from Health City , 2021
When COVID-19 hit, it proved how vital the SPU’s trainings, simulations, and drills were. Nurses were ready to retool hospital procedures in response.
At first glimpse, the three rooms with railed beds in Boston Medical Center’s Menino building in a small alcove off floor 7 West look like any other hospital treatment areas. But the curious observer might notice slight differences that set the space apart. A glance underfoot will reveal the floor’s subtle progression from cool tones near the door to much warmer tones near the bed. A swivel of the head will show that the privacy blinds close between the glass panes on the doors. Scanning the walls above, a video camera and intercom system dot the corner near the ceiling.
This is Boston Medical Center’s Special Pathogens Unit (SPU), a state-of-the-art treatment space built to provide care for people who have been infected with the world’s most lethal emerging pathogens: hemorrhagic fevers like Ebola and Lassa and highly contagious respiratory infections like SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV.
How the special pathogens unit at Boston Medical Center works
Built in 2015, the SPU is a containment and treatment ward developed primarily to support researchers working at the nearby National Emerging Infectious Disease Laboratories (NEIDL), one of only two laboratories in the nation where researchers work to advance treatments for biosafety level 4 infectious agents, agents with a high mortality rate and no known cure. These researchers must don space-like positive-pressure suits before stepping through a series of containment rooms to look through a microscope. A researcher would be transported to BMC’s SPU for observation and care in the unlikely case of pathogen exposure.
Every square inch of the SPU is designed to contain the spread of infection. The surfaces are poreless and seamless for easy sanitization and decontamination. The specially designed pressurized airflow system cleans the air through a series of filters. To answer the questions of the curious observer new to the SPU: The color progression on the floor? A reminder to caregivers about the increased level of infection as they near the patient’s bed. The video camera and intercom? Necessary for the buddy-system approach to care that ensures the safety of physicians and nurses treating patients.