Car-Side Testing

During the current Coronavirus pandemic, car-side medical testing sites have sprung up all over the United States to help speed up the testing process.  Once the pandemic is over, it’s possible that these testing sites could remain open for other uses as well, especially during flu season.  These testing sites are equipped with some of the best PPE (person-protection equipment) available, but is that really enough?  When the testing specialist is coming into contact with hundreds of potentially-sick patients a day, they have to be extra careful.

By installing a Safety Halo^® on a movable stand or other structure outside that the testing specialist can stand under, you add another large layer of protection for both him or her and for the patient driving up.  The Safety Halo^® will pull in air from its environment and clean it of germs and other particles.  Then it will blow that clean air out of its bottom to create a cone of clean air around the testing specialist.  This gently pressurized and expanding cone of moving air will help block or carry down and away from the tester’s face germs exhaled by the patient being tested.  It will also help carry down and away from the patient the germs that the tester exhales as well as help reduce cross contamination from one patient to another via the specialist.

An alternative to—or option in—Safety Halos^® for car-side testers are our Air-Cleaning Blowers^TM (ACBs).  Outdoors, clean air will serve most of the purpose of HEPA-clean air since outdoor air is generally not contaminated with dangerous germs in critical concentrations.  The key idea for protecting the testers and their clients is to prevent the exchange of germs.  When combined with good masks and other PPE, tests have shown that just moving the air between the people quickly enough to prevent the exchange of respired germs and other particles goes much of the way toward preventing contamination.  ACBs can provide clean air at rate of flow sufficient to prevent soiling of the test equipment and samples taken as well as to also minimize the chance of an exchange of germs.  They too can be mounted on movable stands to provide either downward or cross-flowing clean air over the tester and between the tester and the car, and even help to keep rain away from both.

Designed to remove even large quantities of particles in the air without clogging, Air-Cleaning Blowers^TM (ACBs) can separate out the contaminants and provide clean air under a wide variety of conditions.  Instead of blocking and collecting the debris with filter media, ACBs use the momentum of the particles to separate them from the air and eject them in patented, novel ways.

Their designs provide several big benefits to medical testers:  without filter elements to capture particles, they do not form hot spots of concentrated hazardous particles that someone has to change and dispose of.  They do not rot from disuse or poor storage and are always ready to go.  They can provide clean and bug-free air immediately to tents and other emergency structures.  They can be made light and easily transported and installed by one person.  They can run on virtually any kind of electricity—DC or AC, any voltage, including off generators or vehicle power.  They require little or no maintenance during use, unlike units with filters.  They can pre-clean and blow air through special downstream filters that remove chemicals or super-fine particles to keep them clean for as long as possible and eliminate the need for additional fans.  They also remove rain, mist and snow, so unlike units with filters they do not clog in bad weather—or worse, freeze up and stop all air flow—and they help keep the inside of vehicles and downstream filters dry during storms.