Design and testing of an emergency humanitarian tent for airborne risk mitigation with natural ventilation

¹ Energy Department, Politecnico di Torino, C.so Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Turin, Italy
² Interuniversity Dept. Of Regional and Urban Studies and Planning, Politecnico di Torino, Viale Mattioli 39, 10125 Turin, Italy

^* Corresponding author: vincenzo.gentile@polito.it

Abstract

This work presents the methodology and experiments conducted to investigate the impact of natural ventilation in designing an emergency tent that addresses Infection Prevention Control measures against disease transmission via airborne routes. SF6 tracer gas was used to analyze the decay of contaminants within various internal partitions and the indoor space of the emergency treatment module. The study focused on a transparent space partition equipped with medical tools, facilitating emergency interventions without accessing the infected patient area. It aimed to assess the prevention and control of potential airborne transmission across the transparent space partition of the emergency treatment module and to explore the potential role of natural ventilation in limiting or preventing such contamination.