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Creating a life-saving environment through the IoT-enabled EcoStruxure architecture and platform
Technology Category
- Platform as a Service (PaaS) - Connectivity Platforms
Applicable Industries
- Healthcare & Hospitals
Applicable Functions
- Facility Management
Use Cases
- Building Automation & Control
- Predictive Maintenance
Services
- System Integration
The Challenge
Nemours Children’s Hospital (NCH) in Orlando, Florida is a renowned, state-of-the-art hospital that provides care for children with the most-complex illness and diseases. The hospital is just five years old but already, families seeking world-class pediatric care have come from more than 70 different countries. For hospitals, a pure, continuous source of power in a healing environment is essential. It not only provides reliable electricity for equipment to function 24/7, it also provides staff, patients, and parents with the constant peace-of-mind necessary to maintain a successful recuperation environment. Electricity is the fuel that runs the hospital. To create the power system at Nemours, the hospital called on a team consisting of Schneider Electric EcoXpert and other technology partners. Through collaboration, innovation, and expertise, these four firms combined resources to make the Nemours vision for reliable power a reality.
About The Customer
Nemours Children’s Hospital (NCH) in Orlando, Florida is a renowned, state-of-the-art hospital that provides care for children with the most-complex illness and diseases. The hospital is just five years old but already, families seeking world-class pediatric care have come from more than 70 different countries. NCH, part of the Nemours Children’s Health System, was designed through close consultation with families, many of whom had extensive experience with the pediatric health system. “We see many patients from all over the world,” said Nelson Roque, Director of Facilities and Operations for Nemours. “Some of our kids unfortunately are here for many weeks and months at a time.” From the way rooms are organized to be as homelike as possible, to the special visits from characters from our local theme parks, everything at Nemours is designed to create a calm, comfortable, and efficient place of recovery for the children and their families. This attention to excellence extends to the hospital’s world-class medical technology, and even to the electrical system that powers this technology and the building itself.
The Solution
The team developed a 3-tiered power system: critical power for operating theaters and essential medical devices; equipment power for AC, heat, and less critical medical equipment; and convenience power for lighting and amenities in non-critical locations. Incoming electrical power is treated, cleaned, and diverted to the relevant areas and equipment across the hospital, ensuring that sensitive medical equipment receives the precisely the power needed. The system is monitored in real-time by the hospital facilities team. Using EcoStruxure Power Monitoring Expert and Asset Advisor software, the team can use graphical interfaces to view status, generate reports, and identify potential problems before they affect safety or operational efficiency. Resilience is built into the system. If Nemours ever experiences a power loss, generators automatically fire up and restore full power within ten seconds across the hospital. Schneider Electric switchgear equipment transfers power to the hospital circuits, monitoring and controlling power levels to ensure proper distribution of energy to medical equipment, lighting, and utilities. While ten seconds to power is rapid response, it is not fast enough in some cases. To fill this gap, Schneider Electric Uninterruptable Power Supplies (UPS) provide immediate battery backup for sophisticated critical assets such as incubators, life-support machines, operating theatres, radiology equipment, and data center.
Operational Impact
Quantitative Benefit
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