Recommendations for treatment of critically ill patients with COVID-19 : Version 3 S1 guideline.

Since December 2019 a novel coronavirus (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, SARS-CoV-2) has rapidly spread around the world resulting in an acute respiratory illness pandemic. The immense challenges for clinicians and hospitals as well as the strain on many healthcare systems has been unprecedented.The majority of patients present with mild symptoms of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19); however, 5-8% become critically ill and require intensive care treatment. Acute hypoxemic respiratory failure with severe dyspnea and an increased respiratory rate (>30/min) usually leads to intensive care unit (ICU) admission. At this point bilateral pulmonary infiltrates are typically seen. Patients often develop a severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).So far, remdesivir and dexamethasone have shown clinical effectiveness in severe COVID-19 in hospitalized patients. The main goal of supportive treatment is to ascertain adequate oxygenation. Invasive mechanical ventilation and repeated prone positioning are key elements in treating severely hypoxemic COVID-19 patients.Strict adherence to basic infection control measures (including hand hygiene) and correct use of personal protection equipment (PPE) are essential in the care of patients. Procedures that lead to formation of aerosols should be carried out with utmost precaution and preparation.

[Nationwide exposure model for COVID-19 intensive care unit admission]. / Bundesweites Belastungsmodell für Intensivstationen durch COVID-19.

BACKGROUND: Forecasting models for intensive care occupancy of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients are important in the current pandemic for strategic planning of patient allocation and avoidance of regional overcrowding. They are often trained entirely on retrospective infection and occupancy data, which can cause forecast uncertainty to grow exponentially with the forecast horizon. METHODOLOGY: We propose an alternative modeling approach in which the model is created largely independent of the occupancy data being simulated. The distribution of bed occupancies for patient cohorts is calculated directly from occupancy data from "sentinel clinics". By coupling with infection scenarios, the prediction error is constrained by the error of the infection dynamics scenarios. The model allows systematic simulation of arbitrary infection scenarios, calculation of bed occupancy corridors, and sensitivity analyses with respect to protective measures. RESULTS: The model was based on hospital data and by adjusting only two parameters of data in the Aachen city region and Germany as a whole. Using the example of the simulation of the respective bed occupancy rates for Germany as a whole, the loading model for the calculation of occupancy corridors is demonstrated. The occupancy corridors form barriers for bed occupancy in the event that infection rates do not exceed specific thresholds. In addition, lockdown scenarios are simulated based on retrospective events. DISCUSSION: Our model demonstrates that a significant reduction in forecast uncertainty in occupancy forecasts is possible by selectively combining data from different sources. It allows arbitrary combination with infection dynamics models and scenarios, and thus can be used both for load forecasting and for sensitivity analyses for expected novel spreading and lockdown scenarios.

[S2k Guideline - Recommendations for Inpatient Therapy of Patients with COVID-19]. / S2k-Leitlinie ­ Empfehlungen zur stationären Therapie von Patienten mit COVID-19.

Since December 2019, the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome - Corona Virus-2) has been spreading rapidly in the sense of a global pandemic. This poses significant challenges for clinicians and hospitals and is placing unprecedented strain on the healthcare systems of many countries. The majority of patients with Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) present with only mild symptoms such as cough and fever. However, about 6 % require hospitalization. Early clarification of whether inpatient and, if necessary, intensive care treatment is medically appropriate and desired by the patient is of particular importance in the pandemic. Acute hypoxemic respiratory insufficiency with dyspnea and high respiratory rate (> 30/min) usually leads to admission to the intensive care unit. Often, bilateral pulmonary infiltrates/consolidations or even pulmonary emboli are already found on imaging. As the disease progresses, some of these patients develop acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Mortality reduction of available drug therapy in severe COVID-19 disease has only been demonstrated for dexamethasone in randomized controlled trials. The main goal of supportive therapy is to ensure adequate oxygenation. In this regard, invasive ventilation and repeated prone positioning are important elements in the treatment of severely hypoxemic COVID-19 patients. Strict adherence to basic hygiene, including hand hygiene, and the correct wearing of adequate personal protective equipment are essential when handling patients. Medically necessary actions on patients that could result in aerosol formation should be performed with extreme care and preparation.

[Responsibilities of Weaning Centers during the COVID-19 Pandemic Outbreak - Recommendations for the Assignment of ICU Capacities in COVID-19 Patients as shown by the Berlin-Brandenburg POST-SAVE-Model]. / Aufgaben der Weaning-Zentren im Pandemiefall COVID-19.

The enormous increase in patients with severe respiratory distress due to the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak requires a systematic approach to optimize ventilated patient at risk flow. A standardised algorithm called "SAVE" was developed to distribute patients with COVID-19 respiratory distress syndrome requiring invasive ventilation. This program is established by now in Berlin. An instrumental bottleneck of this approach is the vacant slot assignment in the intensive care unit to guarantee constant patient flow. The transfer of the patients after acute care treatment is needed urgently to facilitate the weaning process. In a next step we developed a triage algorithm to identify patients at SAVE intensive care units with potential to wean and transfer to weaning institutions - we called POST SAVE. This manuscript highlights the algorithms including the use of a standardised digital evaluation tool, the use of trained navigators to facilitate the communication between SAVE intensive care units and weaning institutions and the establishment of a prospective data registry for patient assignment and reevaluation of the weaning potential in the future.