CONSULTANT'S CORNER

Sound and Vibration, Feb 2005

Pelton Marsh Kinsella (PMK), a division of Carter & Burgess, has provided acoustical design services for the Burn Acute Care, or BAC, unit at Parkland Hospital in Dallas. "Parkland's BAC unit needed to be remodeled to create an atmosphere more conducive to burn patient treatment," said Howard Pelton, senior consultant with PMK. "PMK was brought in to determine what changes needed to be made and to develop a plan that would address those changes."

In order to identify the bum unit's most pressing needs, PMK conducted detailed sound measurements to establish a level of sound reduction needed to give patients privacy. The engineers recommended a "sound lock" arrangement of gypsum board partitions to create treatment rooms where previously there had been curtains. Pressure-washable acoustical materials are used both to contain sound within the treatment rooms and to allow staff to maintain the necessary level of sterilization.

The modular design allows for speech privacy while reinforcing the spa-like quality of the space. To extend the spa atmosphere, patients are able to watch flat screen televisions placed in the ceiling and on the walls as a means of distraction from painful treatments. The whole area is accessible via a glass door - such as those found in intensive care units - that can open to four feet or to eight feet so as to allow movement of patient gurneys. The new interior corridor behind the glass door provides the sound lock.

Parkland Hospital's burn center is one of the largest civilian burn units in the nation with an estimated 500 pediatric and adult burn patients each year - including burn patients in the intensive care unit and in the BAC unit.

The Parkland BAC unit holds Burn Center Verification status as determined by the American Burn Association and the American College of Surgeons' Burn Center Verification/Consultation Program. Verified burn centers must meet criteria that ensure burn care capability and institutional performance, as outlined by the American College of Surgeons' committee on trauma in the burn care chapter of its Resources for Optimal Care of the Injured Patient manual.

For more information, visit www.pmk consultants.com.

Wyle Laboratories, Inc. has signed an agreement to acquire the Aeronautics Services business of General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of General Dynamics Corporation. General Dynamics Aeronautics Services business, headquartered in Lexington Park, MD, includes activities covering more than 200 contracts with the U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force and prime contractors generating revenue of more than $220 million annually and employing approximately 1,600 people.

The acquisition includes operations providing aeronautical research, development, test and evaluation services to three primary markets: Naval aviation support, Air Force aviation support, and telemetry. Programs supported include the E-2C Hawkeye early warning aircraft, Joint Strike Fighter, C-2A Greyhound naval transport aircraft, AMRAAM air-to-air missile and the F/A-18, F-15 and F-16 fighters. Upon completion of the acquisition, Wyle will have more than 3000 employees and annual revenues of approximately $450 million. The Aeronautics Services operations will become part of Wyle's Technical Support Services unit, which currently has contracts providing launch support at Cape Canaveral, metrology and calibration services at various locations, and research and engineering services at Wright Patterson AFB.