New York, NY-UNS: NYC Health + Hospitals recently conducted a simulation exercise to evaluate a portable isolation unit designed for rapid deployment during infectious disease emergencies. The exercise focused on standing up the unit, safely isolating a simulated patient with Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and practicing infection control measures for a highly contagious airborne illness.
In the scenario, an adult patient presented to the Emergency Department at NYC Health + Hospitals/South Brooklyn Health with fever, cough, and shortness of breath after recent travel from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The patient’s history included exposure to known MERS risk factors, including close contact with camels and consumption of unpasteurized camel milk.
The exercise tested the hospital team’s ability to quickly deploy and operate a portable isolation unit—on loan from the manufacturer for evaluation purposes. This unit can create a temporary airborne infection isolation room (AIIR) when existing hospital isolation rooms are at capacity. The goal of this exercise was to assess whether this tool could serve as a practical and effective asset for managing patients with special pathogens in real-world settings.
Following a notional consultation with the NYC Health Department, healthcare providers practiced collecting nasopharyngeal and sputum specimens for diagnostic testing. During the scenario, the patient developed cardiac arrest, prompting activation of the code team and initiation of Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) protocols within the isolation unit—allowing staff to maintain strict infection prevention and control procedures while delivering emergency care.
Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) is a respiratory illness caused by a coronavirus first identified in Saudi Arabia in 2012. The disease can cause severe pneumonia and has a high case fatality rate, though human infections are rare and typically linked to travel in the Middle East.
The exercise was a collaborative effort between the NYC Health + Hospitals System Biopreparedness Program and NYC Health + Hospitals/South Brooklyn Health. The System Biopreparedness Program works closely with facilities across the health system to test new tools, technologies, and protocols with frontline clinical staff. This ensures that, before adoption, each asset is evaluated for feasibility, safety, and comfort of use by the teams who would rely on them during an actual outbreak or public health emergency.
