While hospitals in major cities are running out of critical-care beds, the Kerala State Institute of Design (KSID) has come up with EZY-Isolate, an indoor modular portable isolation unit for emergency situations. With the caseload going up on a daily basis, the model may prove to be an ideal option for the Health Department in its race against time and space to ensure isolation facilities.
“It is a multipurpose concept that can be used in a number of scenarios. It can be used to accommodate COVID-19 patients, quarantine those coming from hotspots and admit symptomatic persons. It lowers the risk to a great extent compared to large quarantine facilities that place people in halls without any partition. There is also an option to arrange negative air pressure and oxygen pipes in the units so that they meet all medical requirements,” says Arjun U.R., an electrical engineer and a fourth-semester student of Integrated Lifestyle Product Design who designed the unit with the help of faculty members.
Multiple configurations
EZY-Isolate comes in multiple configurations and the standard unit is a cubical structure made of galvanised iron pipe and fabrics like polyester, nylon or canvas. The outer cover uses Velcro locking mechanism to provide airtight covering and each wall will be 8-ft long. The unit also comes with transparent windows, zipper doors, filtered air inlet vent and an exhaust fan. Another feature of the EZY-Isolate unit is that it can be easily dismantled and transported to any place.
“Each module will have space for a bed, table, chair, personal belongings, bags and a pedestal fan. If you want a larger space two or more units can be joined and a portable chemical toilet attached to each unit. They can be set up as temporary isolation facilities at railway stations and airports also,” he adds.
Customisable
While the production cost of a single unit is ₹8,000, it can be mass-produced at ₹5,000. “We have received encouraging feedback from the National Health Mission (NHM), State Medical Board and PEID Cell who inspected the design this week,” says Manoj Kumar Kini, Principal, KSID.
