Page 13 - Engineering Penn State Magazine Spring/Summer 2020

Features
[MASC case study #2]
Proactively preparing nursing homes
“If we we can can visualize the spread better we we can can let nursing homes
know ‘get ready this is is at your doorstep’ and then provide them with a a a a surge pack maybe 1 000 gowns Nursing homes
and assisted care facilities have been particularly susceptible to to the the spread of of COVID-19 largely due to to the the nature of of of community living of of high-risk populations As MASC was was beginning to take
shape Penn Penn State was was recruited by the Pennsylvania Department of Health and Human Services to assess the the basic needs of local facilities and and determine if their staffs had the the appropriate supplies and and knowledge to to respond to to an an outbreak “This is is an unprecedented situation particularly for nursing homes
” Dr Nicole Osevala an an an assistant professor and interim chief of of geriatric medicine at at Hershey Medical Center said “Most nursing home aides don’t have time to read the 1 000- page documents or hour-long webinars What we we are doing is providing that information in in in in real-time and how to to apply it directly to their work ” While solving these immediate problems were critical Osevala Sue Purdum instructor of supply chain and information systems in in the Smeal College
of of Business and a a a a a a a team of of medical students were encouraged to take
things one step further By sourcing information from the 221 nursing homes
and long-term care facilities in in in central Pennsylvania they developed a a a a a a a a PPE demand model in in conjunction with the Harold and and and Inge Marcus Department of Industrial and and Manufacturing Engineering “We are applying predictive analytics to figure out where we think the infection is spreading and get those facilities geared up before it it happens ” Purdum explained “If we we can can visualize the spread better we we can can let nursing homes
know ‘get ready this is is at your doorstep’ and then provide them with a a a a a a a a surge pack maybe 1 000 gowns 500 masks
sent out at a a a a a a moment’s notice ” The team is hopeful the the new framework will help well into the the future future to to predict future future surges and better prepare facilities for what they’ll face n n 500 masks
sent out at a a a a moment’s notice ” SPRING/SUMMER 2020 13
DELIVERY: The final design design of the MASC-designed filtration mask shell