Flu. Mold. Allergens. What’s lurking in the air you’re breathing? What if you could stop the flu in its tracks? At Maine Veterans’ Homes, we’re doing just that by implementing state-of-the-art WellAir air purifiers at each of our six locations throughout Maine.

Why Do We Use Novaerus Air Purifiers?

WellAir’s Novaerus air purifiers break down diseases, like the flu, at the DNA level; therefore, stopping the flu and other diseases before it can reach our veterans and staff. The flu, according to the CDC, can be especially to harmful for people older than 65, so it’s important we’re proactive with our infection prevention strategy.

Our partnership with WellAir, formerly Novaerus, began in early 2016. In fact, since we’ve implemented WellAir’s technology, we’ve had a reduction in outbreaks at our locations, which is both positive for our residents and our staff. While we pride ourselves on how well we do with our infection prevention strategies, the Novaerus air treatment system has been a large part of our success.

When you visit Maine Veterans’ Homes, you’ll see two Novaerus models -- the smaller NV200 and the midsize NV900 -- in common areas, like dining areas, and our resident areas. You may see the midsize version wall mounted, or you may see the smaller version on a nightstand -- they’re quiet enough to sleep next to! Because the air purifiers are sized based on the room they’re in, they don’t need to be moved around; however, they are portable if we would ever need to move them.

Our partnership with WellAir also includes air quality sensors. With these sensors, we are able to know how the air quality is in our buildings. The air quality sensors measure various parameters, so we can monitor situations and be alerted if something is off and address it sooner.

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Did You Know? Veterans Have an Increased Risk for COPD and Other Respiratory Conditions. Read More >>

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Infection Prevention at Maine Veterans’ Homes

The more common approaches to infection prevention are washing your hands and cleaning surfaces, but there’s still one more aspect -- the air. In other words, by using the Novaerus air purifiers at our locations, we’re taking a proactive step to remove what’s in the air before it goes to the surface and then becomes a point for hands. This is especially beneficial for air-only viruses that you only have to breathe in to contract.

How the Novaerus Air Purifiers Work

WellAir’s Novaerus air treatment systems are equipped with fans that drive air through a plasma field. The dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma, is a patented technology proven with NASA to destroy down to the DNA level.

The Novaerus systems address viruses, bacteria, allergens, volatile organic compounds, mold, mold spores and odors. Unlike scent sprays, the air purifiers don’t put something in the air to change the odor but instead, remove the source of what would be causing the odor. This system is clean, safe and easy to use.

3 steps to closing the loop for the best infection prevention

By implementing these revolutionary air purifiers at each of our six Maine Veterans' Homes locations, we’re able to provide a comprehensive approach to infection prevention, also referred to as “closing the loop.”

What is closing the loop?

• Cleaning the hands
• Cleaning the surfaces
• Cleaning the air

We’re Passionate About Veteran Care and Our Employees

At Maine Veterans’ Homes, we are passionate about caring for veterans and their families, but we also care about providing a great work environment for everyone else who supports our facilities, like our clinical staff and support staff. By using the Novaerus air purifiers in our buildings, we are providing a healthier living space for our residents and a cleaner work environment for our staff.

Source: https://blog.mainevets.org/how-were-improving-infection-prevention-at-mvh-using-novaerus-air-purifiers