Critical Care & High Dependency
When designing the lighting for intensive care units and high dependency units, the focus is on providing sufficiently high illuminance for close observation and treatment by the staff, whilst minimising the disturbance to patients.
One common approach is to use a square recessed luminaire with two separately controlled light sources directly over the bed, but the downside is that luminaire is directly in the recumbent patient's line of sight.
The alternative approach, using two asymmetric distribution luminaires each side of the bed solves this issue, as well as reducing shadowing for the medical staff.
CIBSE: SLL Lighting Guide 2 - Hospitals and Health Care Buildings recommends three functional requirements, and simple lighting controls offer a practical way to switch between different preset levels.
Choice of Luminaire
The High Dependency Linear delivers these features, with the unique design of the High Dependency Linear providing an even distribution across the whole bed, and a solution that minimises shadowing when clinical staff are performing their duties.
Illumination Levels
Extract from CIBSE: SLL Lighting Guide 2 - Hospitals and Health Care Buildings
| Location | Maintained Illuminance (lux) |
|---|---|
| Bed head observation (watch) | 10 - 20 |
| Bed head | 30 - 50 |
| Bed, clinical | 400 |
| Bed, examination | 1000 |
High Dependency Linear
High Dependency Linear luminaires, mounted each side of the bed provide a practical and patient-friendly solution. The asymmetric distribution avoids shadowing of the critical inspection area on the bed, reducing glare for the recumbent patient.
A kit is available which consists of 4 High Dependency Linear luminaires and an ECO-Ward light level controller.
High Dependency Modular
The 600mm square luminaire has two separately controlled lighting sections, one with a satin diffuser, the other with a micro-louvre.
The micro-louvre section is dimmed for general lighting (30-50 lux at the bedhead). At full output it provides 400 lux for Clinical work, and if both sections are lit to 100% output, 1000 lux is provided for Examination/Crash situations.
Lighting Controls
The simplest way to achieve the different illumination levels is by using a dimming controller with preset outputs, allowing the user to select the desired output.
More Details
