Energy-efficient ventilation strategies at hospital front desks for minimizing infectious particle dispersion: Considering patient postures and airflow optimization

Abstract

This research presents a novel examination of infectious particle dispersion at hospital front desks, analysing the impact of different patient postures on particle dynamics. It evaluates the efficacy of various ventilation strategies in mitigating particle spread within this high-risk area. Specifically, this study innovatively assesses particle dispersion associated with three common patient postures: upright standing, sitting in a wheelchair, and lying on a mobile bed. Results showed the baseline ventilation that considers the upright standing patient has the highest particles (34) adhered on the nurse. Particle adherence decreases with the sitting (29 particles) and lying postures (20 particles), underscoring the significant influence of human posture on particle distribution. The key contribution of this study is the identification of an optimized ventilation strategy which installs low-level wall-mounted air supply diffusers and ceiling-mounted exhaust grilles, as demonstrated in Case 3. This strategy effectively reduces particle deposition on the nurses and visitors by 52.9 % and 40 %, respectively. These findings advocate for practical infection control measures, like barriers between nurses and patients, to better protect healthcare workers. The study also suggests that future research should account for more crowded environments and occupant movement to better reflect real-world conditions at hospital front desks.