510
Generalized Needs and Requirements: Hospital Needs
The amount of combustible material in VA Hospitals is now under very
tight control, and is much lower than code imposed requirements assume.
A very significant portion of the cost of a building is attributable to the
elaborate precautions required by the codes. And in spite of the cost and
the precautions, many authorities regard modern buildings as unsafe.
512.4.2
The state-of-the-art in fire protection engineering is quite adequate to
increase safety while reducing costs. The Veterans Administration, not
being legally constrained to follow codes, is in an excellent position to
apply modern techniques. The building system under development should
make full use of these new approaches. In fact, as a prototype it should
set the pace for future development.
512.5
ASEPSIS
512.5.1
"At present, there are no clearly defined standards for asepsis in any area
of the hospital. The problems of asepsis have been frequently studied
with little agreement as to results. Mr. A. Samdo, in March 1968 issue of
Modern Hospitals, is able to state: `The thoroughly documented evidence
of airborne infection make it clear that the principal function of a hospital
air conditioning system is not mere personal comfort but instead control of
airborne pathogens.` At the same time, the U.S. Public Health Service in
Publication 930-C-15 quotes the work of Rommelkamp in stating, `. . . . an
evaluation of total room ultraviolet irradiation in operating theatres has
shown that although total counts of airborne bacteria may be reduced up
to 63%, the overall incidence of post-operative infection was not changed.
Thus, at least in this study, which involved 14,854 operations, the airborne
route of infection was not considered important.' These two statements
may not be completely contradictory but they do show the lack of
agreement of this subject."
In isolation environments, a technique of hand washing and gown
changing should be used. Face masks and sterile gloves may also be
required in some instances.
2-5
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