Wednesday 13 January, 2021
Hudiksvall, Sweden.
PSIDAC, a Swedish corporation, gathers efforts to support healthcare in the fight against coronavirus by receiving a record order from Oman: “A giant boom”.
Over the past 12 months, the corona pandemic has hit most of the vast majority of the world’s companies – and healthcare systems – hardly.
For PSIDAC, this turns out to be the opposite- for their products; several hospitals around the world contribute to keep the infection under control.
– During the spring there was a huge peak. It is mainly due to the coronavirus that the demand for our products was rapidly increased- declares the company’s CEO, Björn Österlund.
The building where the company operates is located in the industrial state of Hudiksvall city. There, PSIDAC produces high-tech monitoring systems for, among other things, the healthcare sector.
PSIDAC was founded by Björn Österlund in the mid-90s. Since then, the business has expanded and today a wide range of products are delivered all over the world.
– We are developing monitoring systems particularly for hospitals and pharmaceutical companies; this is where our focus has ended up- states Björn Österlund.
In general terms, PSIDAC’s systems measure air pressure, gas, humidity and temperatures in given environments. Thereby, for instance, hospital wards can be adjusted with a negative air pressure to ensure that an airborne infection will not be pushed out of the room.
– I was told that in a hospital, situated in the city of Gothenburg, the ventilation system in one of the operating rooms had been erroneously installed. The fans functioned in the wrong direction. So in the operating room, where overpressure should be maintained to not let the external air come in, the fans sucked air in from outdoor.
This failure had been happening for six months. If the hospital had utilized our type of monitoring system, the staff would have instantly recognized the error which could have been rapidly fixed- says Björn Österlund.
In Sweden the healthcare sector’s interest in air monitoring systems has been low; therefore PSIDAC has for many years delivered systems to the neighboring countries, the Netherlands and the Middle East, the latter being where one of the company’s largest orders were recently supplied – in the fight against corona virus.
– The last order, which I am happiest about, is to the Kingdom of Oman. The delivery that has been made is one of our largest single orders, meaning one of the greatest orders that were sent at once. The monitoring systems are being installed in eight hospitals of Oman and then a new order will probably be placed during the upcoming spring.
– Nowadays, mounting evidence suggests that corona virus is airborne and consequently a safe environment with negative pressure and good ventilation must be ensured for the corona patients, and infectious patients in general- says Björn Österlund.
In terms of the number of units, PSIDAC has increased its sales by about one hundred percent in 2020, largely due to the quick rise of corona virus spreading and the foreign healthcare efforts to procure a better control of the infection.
In Sweden, on the other hand, the market has been inactive and no significant increase in the demand is yet noticeable- states Björn Österlund.
– It is a good question why the Middle East, Holland, Norway, Denmark and Finland take the circumstances much more seriously – Björn considers and points out that as instance, a monitoring system for Hudiksvall’s hospital, in round numbers, would cost on average 1,500 euros per room. An investment that would quickly pay off through shorter hospital stays- he affirms.
– An attempt to manage the situation was made in the U.S.A, where healthcare facilities were treated as infection clinics. Hence, all the patients were being treated as if they were contagious, which resulted in shortened treatment times. Because regardless of whether a patient is at the hospital as cause of a broken leg, the immune system may be affected and the patient might get infected by other inmates who are there. Nevertheless, this effect has now been reduced due to the adopted measurement.
Now the PSIDAC’s CEO hopes that the Swedish health system will also open its eyes to the company’s solutions, because even if the corona were to be successfully fought, there will always be other infections to prevent.
– Do you think this could be the turning point?
– I believe and hope that the awareness will increase among people in power who manage the financial resources and make decisions. The money spent installing our monitor systems is still quite small compared to the money spent in a ward for treating patients extra days, or getting hospital staff sick.
– So do you believe in the future of the company?
– I confidently look forward to this, as it looks promising. An empowerment of safety to cease the spread of coronavirus in healthcare facilities, in conjunction with PSIDAC’s systems, is definitely the goal for 2021, it is clear – affirms Björn Österlund.
- Journalist: Kristoffer Pettersson.
- Translation: Maria Victoria Otero.
- Reference: https://www.helahalsingland.se/artikel/hudikforetaget-hjalper-sjukvarden-i-kampen-mot-corona-fick-rekordorder-fran-oman-en-jatteboom
