Antimicrobials in Healthcare was developed as a response to independent third-party testing that has repeatedly confirmed that routine cleaning is not enough to keep health care environments clean to a standard that meets their needs. Additionally, it is a response to the constant efforts by the health care industry to find better products, materials and equipment to support keeping surfaces cleaner for longer periods of time.

According to the white paper, embedded antimicrobials are antimicrobials incorporated into products during their manufacture, and become a permanent part of the product. Antimicrobial technologies are currently used in a wide range of health care-related products already, including in storage and transport equipment, building materials, procedural tools and administrative supplies and equipment.

While these products are already in use by many health care facilities, the goal of the white paper is to provide health care decision-makers with a basic understanding of “embedded antimicrobials,” an overview of the benefits of antimicrobial solutions and to address common misconceptions about the use of these products to further encourage their use. The white paper offers further information and benefits of these products to continue the encouragement of further and widespread use of these antimicrobial technologies.

“The role of embedded antimicrobials as part of an overall ‘systems approach’ to creating cleaner surfaces in the health care environment is an important topic to examine,” said Dr. Gina Sloan, director of innovations at Microban and author of the white paper, in a recent statement. “The incorporation of built-in antimicrobials complements good hygiene practices by providing an added level of protection, keeping products and equipment cleaner between cleanings, at a microscopic level.”

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The center, funded by a $50 million grant by hospital trustee Ronald O. Perelman, was designed to withstand harsh future weather conditions with floodwalls and significant infrastructure improvements.

“Since reopening the hospital, returning critical emergency services to New York City has been our top priority, and we are proud to introduce the Ronald O. Perelman Center for Emergency Services,” said Robert Grossman, MD, dean and CEO at NYU Langone, in a statement. “This comfortable, state-of-the-art facility gives patients from the community access to advanced adult and pediatric emergency care.”

The new facility features spacious treatment rooms and bedside registration;
state-of-the-art imaging facilities for quick testing and diagnosis; efficient intake and discharge processes to make treatment areas available sooner for incoming patients; a New KiDS of NYU Pediatric Emergency Care Center to provide a child-focused and family-centered environment; expedited service for non-acute patients; and direct access to NYU Langone’s Comprehensive Stroke Care Center.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo spoke to the symbolism of resiliency in the emergency center’s renovation.

“For more than a year, New York has been rebuilding and reimagining itself for a new weather reality that affects all of us. I toured this site a couple weeks after the storm, and I believe that the work done on NYU Langone’s ED truly demonstrates the resilience and dedication of New Yorkers who come together in times of great crisis and emerge stronger than before,” said Cuomo said in a statement. “The storm left the entire region severely battered, but still our spirit was strong, and I am happy to stand here today and celebrate the opening of NYU Langone’s Perelman Emergency Center.”

The new facility incorporates flood mitigation. When the superstorm hit, generators, monitors and other equipment were destroyed. This forced hospital staff to transfer patients through dark stairwells. Now, vital equipment is placed on higher floors, reducing the risk of serious flooding.

“From day one, we’ve prioritized recovery and rebuilding for the New York City neighborhoods impacted by Sandy,” said New York Mayor Bill de Blasio in a statement. “Opening the Perelman Emergency Center is a great accomplishment for NYU Langone, and an even greater resource and comfort for the citizens of New York. I want to thank NYU Langone’s faculty and staff for continuing to provide necessary services to New Yorkers and visitors alike, even after the ED was forced to close.”

The new emergency department is triple the size of the old department. The 22,000-square-foot emergency services department offers 40 emergency care treatment spaces to serve the expected 50,000 annual visitors.

“NYU Langone is a critical pillar of New York’s hospital system that must be running on all cylinders for a healthy New York,” said New York Senator Charles Schumer in a statement. “From day one of the Hurricane Sandy disaster I worked with the hospital and FEMA to get the support needed for NYU Langone to come back better and stronger than ever — and today we have done just that. We are thrilled to restore important emergency care services to the people of New York City.”

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Hurricane Sandy is one of those events that touches everyone’s lives, whether you’re on the east coast weathering the storm or sitting in an office building across the country anxiously watching your Facebook news feed to hear updates from friends who are in harms way. On Monday, Oct. 29, employees and patients at the New York University Langone Medical Center found themselves in the former category when the facility experienced an emergency evacuation.

The hospital’s basement began to flood around 7:45 Monday night, with reports indicating low points like the bottom floor and elevators filled with over 10 feet of water at one time. Soon the local electrical grid went out and every hospital administrator’s nightmare followed two hours later, when the backup power also failed.

The hospital’s staff sprung into action, beginning the long and arduous process of carefully evacuating 215 patients from a massive hospital. CBS’s Jonathan Pook indicated some patients, who were in no condition to walk, were placed in medical sleds and carried down the stairs by teams of four to five employees from as high up as the 17th floor.

The number of patients moved was significantly lower than it would have been had the hospital not discharged hundreds of patients in preparation for the storm. The normal capacity for the hospital is around 800 patients. The reporter added that nurses carrying some of the babies down nine flights of stairs from the neonatal intensive care units were forced to use manual respirator pumps to keep them breathing, with no other options during a complete power outage.

One thousand staff members participated in the evacuation with the aid of firefighters and police officers. Ambulances transferred each patient individually to nearby hospitals, which took responsibility for notifying family members of the location of each new admission. Despite the weather conditions, there wasn’t a shortage of ambulances, as a line of over 20 of them was waiting outside the building at all times. Patients were transferred to Lenox Hill, Memorial Sloan Kettering, Mount Sinai and New York Presbyterian/Weill Cornell hospitals. The evacuation was completed slightly before noon on Tuesday, although all patients in intensive care units and other critical areas were already in another hospital hours beforehand.

Multiple hospitals throughout New York State experienced some level of evacuation during the storm, but none were on the scale of the event at Langone Medical Center.

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