TÜV SÜD Supports: Fast track testing of medical gas within 24 hours

Emergency field hospital in Italy

"Our priority is patient safety. For this reason, we felt it was essential to verify and certify the quality of the gases supplied before the new hospital was opened to patients. Since we are dealing with intensive care in a field hospital, we needed an experienced and reliable company like TÜV SÜD pH which could respond within a very short time."

Matteo Polese
Sales & Marketing Director, Air Liquide Sanità Service

 Friday, April 24, 2020

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread globally, the need for increased numbers of intensive care beds has led to the construction of emergency field hospitals to relieve the strain on established medical facilities and to provide backup medical capabilities.

In Italy, the Lombardy regional government together with the National Alpine Association and Emergency Association deployed an emergency intensive care facility inside the Fiera di Bergamo, a premiere exhibition hall and conference centre in Bergamo. The intensive care facility managed by the Emergency Association is now one of the largest civilian field hospitals in Europe. It houses 140 hospital beds with more than half dedicated for use by patients requiring intensive care. The Bergamo field hospital was built from scratch within 10 days, thanks to the support of hundreds of workers and volunteers. An essential part of the construction process was the installation of a distribution network of medical gases (carbon dioxide, nitrogen, oxygen, etc.) built and supplied by Air Liquide Sanità Service, a long-time customer of TÜV SÜD.

Air Liquide Sanità Service asked TÜV SÜD pH laboratories, a subsidiary of TÜV SÜD in Italy, for quality gas testing services after the installation of a medical gas supply system in the Bergamo field hospital. Matteo Polese, Sales & Marketing Director of Air Liquide Sanità Service, commented on the constraints which the company faced, "Our priority is patient safety. For this reason, we felt it was essential to verify and certify the quality of the gases supplied before the new hospital was opened to patients. Since we are dealing with intensive care in a field hospital and not a conventional hospital, we needed an experienced and reliable company like TÜV SÜD pH which could respond within a very short time. TÜV SÜD pH answered our call immediately by sending their team to the new hospital. The testing was completed successfully in record time, to our and the end customer's satisfaction."

To ensure the safety of the medical gas system, our experts from TÜV SÜD pH checked for impurities in the medical gas according to the requirements stipulated in the European Pharmacopoeia. The testing was completed with a mobile “Quality Gas” lab system accredited according to ISO / IEC 17025. To ensure that the hospital was operational in the quickest time, engineers from TÜV SÜD completed all necessary testing and issued the final test report within 24 hours.

"We have always been proud of our “Quality Gas” service because it combines a high level of technical performance, necessary to meet the strictest standards required by the European Pharmacopoeia, with our philosophy of always being close to the customer's needs. I am also proud that our "Quality Gas" service pioneered in 2008 has been able contribute positively, even if in a small way, to such an important project of the new field hospital in Bergamo." said Gianluca Licenziato, Sales Manager of TÜV SÜD pH Lab, who was in the team that designed and implemented the Quality Gas service.

The speed of TÜV SÜD’s response has played a part in ensuring that the Bergamo field hospital could be completed on schedule, paving the way for the rapid deployment of essential medical services in the hard-hit Lombardy region.

This story was originally published in Italian here.