ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic has created multiple, complex and intense demands on hospitals, including the need for surge planning in the many locations outside epicenters such as northern Italy or New York City. We here describe such surge planning in an Academic Health Center that encompasses a children's hospital. Interprofessional teams from every aspect of inpatient care and hospital operations worked to prepare for a COVID-19 surge. In so doing, they successfully innovated ways to integrate pediatric and adult care and maximize bed capacity. The success of this intense collaborative effort offers an opportunity for ongoing teamwork to enhance efficient, effective, and high-quality patient care.
Subject(s)
Cooperative Behavior , Coronavirus Infections , Interdisciplinary Communication , Pandemics , Patient Care Team , Pneumonia, Viral , Academic Medical Centers , Betacoronavirus , COVID-19 , Health Workforce/organization & administration , Hospitals, Pediatric , Humans , Italy , New York City , Organizational Case Studies , SARS-CoV-2Subject(s)
Coronavirus , Pneumonia, Viral , Betacoronavirus , COVID-19 , Child , Coronavirus Infections , Endoscopy , Humans , Pandemics , Personal Protective Equipment , Risk Assessment , SARS-CoV-2ABSTRACT
SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus causing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), is now a global pandemic. Human-to-human transmission has been documented to occur through respiratory secretions, feces, aerosols, and contaminated environmental surfaces. Pediatric patients present a unique challenge as they may have minimal symptoms and yet transmit disease. Endoscopists face risk for infection with viruses like SARS-CoV-2, as the aerosol generating nature of endoscopy diffuses respiratory disease that can be spread via an airborne and droplet route. We describe our center's methodology for pediatric patient risk stratification to facilitate responsible use of endoscopic resources during this crisis. We also describe our recommendations for use of personal protective equipment by endoscopists, with the goal of ensuring the safety of ourselves, our anesthesiology and endoscopy staff, and our patients.