In cities like Los Angeles and Phoenix, outdoor COVID-19 screening clinics have taken up residence in gym parking lots, school track fields, and busy sidewalks. On any given day, in cities with high cases, crowds of people wait in line at walk-up clinics for Coronavirus tests. In these cities where some of us have to travel without the added protection of a car, it goes without saying, a need for safer and socially-distanced testing clinics is clear and urgent. FOMSC, designed by Jimun Nam, provides a modular solution for cities with a growing need for outdoor screening clinics.
FOMSC, which stands for, ‘Foldable Modular Selective Clinic/Screening Clinic,’ utilizes modular triangularity, portability, and folding capabilities, in order to appropriately station to various environments – from stadiums to storefronts. Each screening pod is fully enclosed in order to offer a sense of safety and privacy that preexisting outdoor screening clinics do not offer. Walk-up clinics in Los Angeles sporadically pop up on sidewalks like flea markets on Sunday, while city residents wait in lines to reach the final open tent where screenings take place one by one. Ditching this open-air approach for one that prioritizes the individual’s safe space, Jimun Nam utilizes screen paneling and folding mechanisms in order to provide patients their own clean pod where they can get screened for COVID-19, all the while implementing and maintaining safety protocol from onsite medical staff. Designed to function like airport security, roped walkways lead patients to pod centers, similar to body scanners in appearance, which funnel patients in and out according to a color-coded lighting system. Each pod comes equipped with color-coded lamps that indicate whether or not it’s safe for the next patient to enter. While the patient inside the pod gets screened, yellow or red light emanates from the pod’s ‘situation lamp,’ to indicate either ‘waiting’ or ‘diagnosis’ periods, more generally signaling that the pod is occupied. Once the screening is done and the pod has been cleaned for further use, green light pulses from the pod’s base, denoting safe entry.
Being that FOMSC is easy to both install and disassemble, the intention behind its modularity gives it a sense of adaptivity for changing city environments like parking lots and grassy parks. Jimun Num’s modular and color-coded solution also offers some ease of movement when it comes to switching patients in and out of screening pods. The need for screening clinics for hospitals and other essential worksites can not be overstated and thankfully, design can answer the call.
Designer: Jimun Num
