Mobile patient containment chamber system and method

A method of using a containment chamber, the method comprising:

• assembling the containment chamber from a packed state to an expanded state, the assembling including:
• assembling an architecture, the architecture including:
• a plurality of vertical poles,
• a plurality of top-of-wall beams,
• one or more flexible roof support poles, and
• a base assembly comprising a plurality of base poles,
• wherein assembling the architecture at least includes coupling the one or more flexible roof support poles to one or more of:
• the plurality of vertical poles and/or the plurality of top-of-wall beams;
• and
• attaching a flexible polymer enclosure to the architecture, the flexible polymer enclosure defining a chamber via a plurality of walls including:
• a plurality of end walls,
• a plurality of sidewalls,
• one or more roof walls,
• a plurality of couplings attached to the one or more roof walls, and
• a floor wall,
• wherein attaching the flexible polymer enclosure to the architecture includes coupling the plurality of couplings to the one or more flexible roof support poles to suspend the plurality of walls and configure the one or more roof walls in the expanded state;
• disposing the containment chamber on a mobile unit comprising at least one of a foldable roll-in stretcher and a gurney, with the base assembly and the floor wall being disposed on the at least one of the foldable roll-in stretcher and the gurney;
• opening the flexible polymer enclosure via one or more peripheral couplings disposed in at least the plurality of sidewalls and at least one of the plurality of end walls, the opening the flexible polymer enclosure via one or more peripheral couplings generating access to an internal cavity of the chamber defined by the flexible polymer enclosure;
• positioning a patient within the open flexible polymer enclosure inside the internal cavity of the chamber, with the patient disposed on or over the at least one of the foldable roll-in stretcher and the gurney, on or over the base assembly, and on or over the floor wall;
• sealing the flexible polymer enclosure via the one or more peripheral couplings disposed in at least the plurality of sidewalls and at least one of the plurality of end walls, the sealing causing isolation of the patient within the internal cavity of the chamber defined by the flexible polymer enclosure;
• generating a negative pressure within a range of −2.5 to −2.7 Pa within the internal cavity of the chamber defined by the flexible polymer enclosure via an air filtration system;
• moving the patient from a first location to a second location via one or more users pushing the at least one of the foldable roll-in stretcher and the gurney;
• configuring the one or more roof walls from the expanded state to a collapsed state by:
• de-coupling the plurality of couplings from the one or more flexible roof support poles, and
• detaching the one or more flexible roof support poles from the architecture,
• wherein configuring the one or more roof walls from the expanded state to the collapsed state causes the volume of the internal cavity of the chamber defined by the flexible polymer enclosure to decrease by between 2 and 10 cubic feet and wherein the height of the containment chamber is reduced by between 4 and 24 inches, and
• wherein the containment chamber remains operable in both the expanded state in the collapsed state to isolate the patient and to generate the negative pressure within a range of −2.5 to −2.7 Pa within the internal cavity of the chamber defined by the flexible polymer enclosure via the air filtration system;
• and
• moving the patient from the second location to a third location via one or more users pushing the at least one of the foldable roll-in stretcher and the gurney, where moving the patient from the second location to the third location includes moving the patient through a door or opening that the containment chamber on the at least one of the foldable roll-in stretcher and the gurney would be inoperable to fit through in the expanded state, but is operable to fit through in the collapsed state, and while the containment chamber remains operable to isolate the patient and generate the negative pressure within a range of −2.5 to −2.7 Pa while in the collapsed state.