ABSTRACT
This chapter covers the rapid clinical changes undertaken at the Henry Ford Health System (HFHS) in Detroit, Michigan in response to the surge of patients admitted to the five HFHS hospitals as representative of changes made at health systems across the United States and globally. The chapter discusses changes undertaken to maintain surge capacity use of an incident command center to coordinate a total focus on providing sufficient inpatient services for COVID-19 patients by the expansion of beds and redeployment of personnel along with an almost overnight switch to telemedicine care for outpatients to keep them safe by sheltering at home. The impact of these changes on health-care finances is discussed. Finally, the importance of communication by use of daily phone and video conferencing team huddle calls to inform the team of almost daily strategic changes, obtain reports from frontline providers, and to convey words of support and options for emotional and psychological support for caregivers who might be feeling distressed. © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
The Hospital Incident Command System (HICS) is an incident management system specific to hospitals based on the principles of Incident Command System (ICS), and it includes prevention, protection, mitigation, response, and recovery. It plays a crucial role in effective and timely response during the periods of disasters, mass casualties, and public health emergencies. In recent times, hospitals have used a customized HICS structure to coordinate effective responses to public health problems such as the Ebola outbreak in the US and SARS epidemic in Taiwan. The current COVID-19 pandemic has placed unprecedented challenges on the healthcare system, necessitating the creation of HICS that can help in the proper allocation of resources and ineffective utilization of healthcare personnel. The key elements in managing a response to this pandemic include screening and early diagnosis, quarantining affected individuals, monitoring disease progression, delivering appropriate treatment, and ensuring an adequate supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) to healthcare staff.