Heavy duty tents have been used as emergency health care shelters for a very long time. The fact that they are portable, durable, easy to use and require very little time to assemble makes them all the more crucial for emergency services. Therefore, medical tents are an indispensable part of the emergency assistance set-up protocols at disaster sites.

However, medical tents have also been used for various other health care activities which require temporary structures for shade and protection like health awareness camps, medical check-up camps and blood donation drives. Apart from emergency services, printed tents are also used for medical purposes by researchers, military, aged care homes, NGOs and other organizations. 

 

Medical tents perform well in terms of disrupting the rapid spread of infectious diseases and are used for both indoor and outdoor purposes, though the latter set-up works better to limit exposure to infections. In the wake of COVID-19 pandemic, custom tents for medical purposes are being increasingly used by health care facilities, particularly hospitals, to enforce social distancing guidelines as well as deal with overflow of patients in emergency rooms.

Apart from being extensions to triage facilities, they are also used for setting up mobile fever clinics and drive-through testing centres. Furthermore, medical isolation tents are very useful to meet increased patient quarantine requirements during a pandemic wave. Indoor isolation modules are effective in containing the further spread of infections and are particularly helpful in providing proper care to patients while keeping the healthcare worker and caregiver safe as well.

In order to further reduce contact between the infectious and other patients, hospitals can also use medical tents for conducting basic outpatient services as well. Adding separate kiosks or extensions for blood collection and pharmaceutical purposes can create a holistic unit which can cater to patients with non-critical needs. Telehealth facility over video calls, which has expanded as a result of COVID, can also be housed in these temporary shelters, ensuring the safety of workers and the sustainability of service.

With so many benefits, versatile uses and increased demand of these products, technological advancements in the field have grown at a rapid speed. Branded tents for medical purposes are now available in various models with multiple features. New types of products are also being innovated in this category with the aim to resolve many problems and limitations in providing care that are faced by professionals in the health care system.

We thought it best to provide an overview of the different kinds of custom tents and other products which are offered by manufacturers to cater to the needs of health care services. The list given below includes specifications of the best available products in this category. We hope that it will help decision makers in the health care sector evaluate their requirements, plan their outdoor facilities and procure products accordingly.

Products associated with medical tent category are now being innovated keeping in mind both large-scale and individual requirements. Listed below is a table of different products which are available in this category to cater to the requirements of the health care sector. The product type is listed in a descending order from large capacity medical tents to isolation modules for individuals.

Apart from the utility and specifications of these products, you must also check whether they are fire retardant, waterproof and provide protection from exposure to UV rays. Manufacturers also provide custom-printed tents which can be very useful for color coding isolation modules according to severity or printing instructional content. It might be beneficial to check out these as well.

Moreover, there might be other seasonal requirements that must also be considered while planning the use of temporary shelters for health care services. For instance, medical tents with insulation and winter liners are a prerequisite for winters while ventilation and cooling devices must be incorporated if the temporary shades are being used in summers.

COVID-19 pandemic has been the dominant reality of our lives for the past two years. While there has been a lull in the infection cycles, the possibility of a new variant and another wave is ever-looming. Therefore, government as well as private health care service providers need to remain ever more vigilant.

In Australia, the number of COVID cases are on the rise once again with the last week of March 2022 recording an average of approximately 53,000+ new cases every day. Last year, emergency medical tents were set up by hospitals in Sydney in August and Melbourne in October to combat the rise in COVID cases. This year as well similar arrangements had to be made at hospitals in Queensland due to a surge in positive cases in January during the worst wave of the virus outbreak that Australia has faced.

Given the reality and gravity of the situation, it's prudent that decision makers in the health care sector act proactively in their strategy to battle COVID. The coming of winter along with  rising cases can become particularly problematic period creating further pressure upon health care facilities. In January 2022, Chief Medical Officer (Australian Government Department of Health) Prof. Paul Kelly stated in a brief to the media - “Now is the time to think about what we would do in future. COVID is going to be with us for many years.”

Keeping all these aspects in mind it is a better option for health care service providers to invest in medical tents and establish strategies and protocols in the event that medical emergency shelters need to be installed. Since health care workers are particularly busy these days, we advise you to speak to a manufacturer to swiftly finalize and place your orders.

“Prevention is better than cure” – some might call this a cliché, but it is now a reality for us every day. So do not delay, order your medical isolation tents today.