Rush pitches isolation tent to treat coronavirus patients
CHICAGO - As hospitals across Chicago are preparing for additional coronavirus patients, Rush University Medical Center is taking a unique approach.
They have pitched an isolation tent to review patients as soon as they are taken off an ambulance. They are one of 35 federally designated hospitals to deal with infectious disease patients.
The tent is separate from the hospital itself to give medical staff and other patients an added layer of protection. It has called a “Forward Triage,” which is typically used for mass casualty events.
The tent is located right outside the emergency room. It is intended to keep coronavirus patients out of waiting rooms and away from the hospitals most vulnerable population.
The air inside the tent and the ambulance bay is sanitized before it is exhausted outside to reduce the possibility of further spreading the virus.
Rush University Medical Center has treated at least one coronavirus patient who has since been released.