TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--UniFold announces the immediate availability of its rigid pop-up structures for use as medical ICU wards. Hospitals in need of expanding their ICU capacity, without the time or space for construction, can quickly turn atrium, cafeteria, or conference room space into a bio secure ICU ward. The structures can be deployed side by side in tight formation to make the most of available floor space, and the folding design has no parts to lose, deploying in about 30 seconds, with practically no training.
Covid case projections indicate hospitals need to expand their ICU capacities urgently in this latest wave of the pandemic.
"Our structures deploy in seconds including a floor. This makes a sealed chamber that accepts positive and negative pressure, allowing for a sterile space in minutes" says Steve Ostrowski, Director of Business Development for UniFold. "Tents don't seal. Curtains and office panels can't be pressurized. UniFold solves both problems in about 30 seconds."
The versatile 'exoskeleton' structures stand on their own. The roof, side walls, and floor, are made of large, folded sheets of polypropylene, the material used for election signs. The folds give them extraordinary strength and resilience.
The structures are already used by hospital as decontamination showers and chem/bio secure isolation chambers. In a logical step to use as ICU wards, the design was adapted by increasing headroom, adding air handling ports, and sealing the seams.
UniFold ICU systems are made-to-order in a range of sizes up to 11' wide X 22' long, the equivalent of a one car garage. An optional interior divider makes two 11'X10' ICU's from one 11'X20' structure for optimum floorspace utilization.
About UniFold
UniFold structures are manufactured by Pine Valley Packaging Group under exclusive license. The shelters have been used in rapid deployment medical, military, haz-mat, and disaster responder housing applications since 2000. They are suited to indoor and outdoor use and are efficiently heated and cooled due to twin wall panel construction. Estimated fold unfold cycles exceeds 1000 uses before there is substantial deterioration of strength or appearance.
