M Health Fairview Has Creative New Way To Test For Covid-19 Without PPE Equipment

With the constant shortage and worry about PPE's (Personal Protective Equipment)  and masks for health care professionals one Twin Cities hospital is thinking outside the box, by being in a box.

Instead of wearing gowns and masks, the health care workers at M Health Fairview's Oxboro clinic in Bloomington stand inside the glass box, which kind of looks like a phone booth. The medical staff then put their arms into these two armholes with sleeves and are able to administer the COVID-19 swab test. A fan inside the box pushes air through a HEPA filter in the booth preventing particles from coming inside the booth which is then cleaned between each patient.

According to Bring Me The News : An M Health Fairview medical assistant  Dana Seeker said in a press release. "In the past, if I saw 90 patients in a day, that’d be 90 gowns and 180 gloves. It’s unreal how much PPE we’re saving, Once you’re in there and can work without all of the gear on, it’s pretty awesome. It’s going to make testing so much easier going forward. It’s safe for us medical assistants who are swabbing, it’s safe for the patients, and it’s saving so much with the equipment."

M Health Fairview teamed up with the University of Minnesota College of Science and Engineering to make the booths, and plan to soon use 12 booths across its eight testing sights. What a great way to protect health care workers and also people coning in for tests with out posing a risk to either party and the expense and hassle of using all those PPE supplies.