Medical and Health Care

Health and Medical facilities, and care, will have to adapt to the numbers of people in the SeaStead, and their relative risk factors (ie, workers will require more trauma than retirees, who will require more long-term monitoring).

Medical facilities should be located centrally, but don't require prime locations such as ocean views. If possible, they should be located where motion of the structure is minimized. Power requirements will have to be accommodated, for imaging technologies (Xray, CT scan, MRI, etc) and airflow must be controlled to afford isolation in the event of an infectious disease. Dental care will be required in addition to medical care.

Electronic records exclusively will be maintained, so no chart storage areas will be necessary but all medical spaces will require network access. All medical personnel must be available by page at all times in the event of an emergency.

In addition to the on-site medical personnel, high-bandwidth connectivity with 3-D cameras should be available for telemedicine. While various imaging modalities will be available (X-ray, CT, MRI, Ultrasound) these will be examined by qualified radiologists via telemedicine.

Disposal of medical waste will be required.

Potential for Revenue Generation One potential income stream for a SeaStead is specialty medical treatment clinics, a sort of medical tourism. Facilities for this would fall into the commercial realm and are not discussed here.

Need for Medical Capability Due to the isolation of the SeaScape (at least part of the time), evacuation of the injured may not be feasible. Further, the potential for a medical disaster such as a fire, or aircraft crash, must be considered. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy should be available for treatment of diving injuries and other appropriate injuries.

For example, if the SeaStead was off the coast West Africa (say, Angola) the nearest large cities would be Luanda, Angola; Kinshasa, Congo (Zaire); and Windhoek, Namibia - none of which could handle a severe accident or illness, at least not with first-world medicine. Further, it's possible that all three cities would be beyond flight range of any aircraft onboard. For this reason, the SeaScape needs to be self-sufficient medically.

Required Staffing With an estimated 10,000 person population, the following medical professionals might be needed:

Family Physician

Emergency Physician (doubles as general physician), hyperbaric medicine qualified.

Physician Assistants (2)

Surgeon, General (assists on orthopedic surgery)

Surgeon, Orthopedic (assists on general surgery)

Dentists (2)

Dental Assistant (2) with lab capabilities

Anesthesiologist or CRNA (2)

Surgical Nurse

General Nurse (phlebotomist, X-ray tech)

CT / MRI Technician

Medical Assistant (4)

Firefighter / Paramedics (6-8) with expanded or full scope of practice. These can be dual-trained firefighter/paramedics with specialty training in dive rescue/recovery. All should also be qualified as hyperbaric chamber attendants and at least three should be hyperbaric chamber operators

Automated lab equipment would provide a low-manpower method of blood and urine chemistry, microbiology lab services, etc.

Medical Space Requirements

Waiting Area

Medical Exam Rooms (2)

Medical Procedures Room

Casting room (it's messy)

X-Ray (should be portable and digital)

CT scanner (requires shielding)

MRI scanner (requires shielding)

Laboratory (wet lab equipment)

Surgical suites (2)

Scrub room

Surgical changing room, rest room and shower

Surgical supply room

General supply room (in medical area)

Rest room (male, female)

Ward areas (two, five beds each, with rest rooms including shower and bath)

Storage area (inactive storage of approximately 3800 cubic feet (107 cubic meters)(approximately the size of a large ISO shipping container)