- The 'Negatively Pressurized Conex' training unit helps Department of Defense medical staff prepare to care for service members potentially affected by infectious diseases.
- This is just one training unit that UNMC plans to house in a new facility on campus, the Infectious Diseases Air Transport Training Facility.
- United States Air Force Lt. Col. Elizabeth Schnaubelt, MD, walked KMTV through this training unit describing its use and importance.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
NPC training unit - Those letters stand for ‘Negatively Pressurized Conex’ and this is part of a developing training space, the Infectious Diseases Air Transport Training Facility, coming to UNMC.
In a nutshell, the NPC training unit is a retrofitted shipping container.
"So, this portion would be facing the back of the aircraft, our medical teams would bring the patients into the NPC, so we will open this back door," said Lt. Col. Elizabeth Schnaubelt, MD, and director of C-STARS Omaha.
It came about in the early days of the pandemic. Designed to help service members affected by COVID or other respiratory infections who need medical care.
Patients are loaded in based on the severity of their illness and would stay in this unit for the duration of the flight.
"This space is negatively pressurized, meaning it helps contain any pathogens or infectious particles inside, so they don't exit into the air frame," Schnaubelt said.
While this unit could be put into real-world use, it will eventually be used for training on UNMC’s campus.
That process is in the early stages now.
"We are working through some of our procedures to ensure that we can do all of the clinical tasks safely," Schnaubelt said. "We haven't actually brought anyone here, but there is a lot of interest, to really build this capability and the training platform."
Beyond transporting patients safely, the training gives the medical staff confidence in their practice, especially with multiple layers of personal protective equipment on.
"Ensuring that our medical teams can overcome some of those challenges and care for the patients safely and effectively is really important," Schnaubelt said.
A unique resource for medical teams.
"There is limited capacity both nationally and globally to provide this type of transport and safely care for patients during the transport, so we are eager to be able to provide that for DOD members and enhance the overall capacity globally for this type of care," Schnaubelt said.
Enhancing preparedness nationwide.
"I believe it might be not if but when we are called to use this, and we really are excited to be able to ensure our DOD medical personnel are ready for that mission," Schnaubelt said.
The entire Infectious Diseases Air Transport Training Facility plans to include this unit, a smaller version of it, the NPC- Lite, plus a C-130 aircraft and a C-17 aircraft, which these training units could be used on and additional training spaces. The facility will go in a new building on the UNMC campus.
