ABSTRACT
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a ubiquitous health concern and a global pandemic. In an effort to slow the disease spread and protect valuable healthcare resources, cessation of nonessential surgery, including many orthopaedic procedures, has become commonplace. This crisis has created a unique situation in the care of spine patients as we must balance the urgency of patient evaluation, surgical intervention, and continued training against the risk of disease exposure and resource management. The spine division of an orthopaedic surgery department has taken an active role in enacting protocol changes in anticipation of COVID-19. In the initial 4 weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic the spine division went from an average of 60.4 cases to 10 cases during the same timeframe. Clinic visits decreased from 417.4 to 322 with new patient visits decreasing from 28% to 20%. Three hundred eighteen of the 322 (98.7%) clinic visits were performed via telehealth. Although these changes have been forced upon us by necessity, we feel that our division and department will emerge in a more responsive, agile, and stronger state. As we look to the coming months and beyond, it will be important to continue to adapt to the changing landscape during unprecedented times.
Subject(s)
COVID-19/prevention & control , Occupational Exposure/prevention & control , Orthopedics/organization & administration , Patient Selection , Spinal Diseases/surgery , Academic Medical Centers/organization & administration , Elective Surgical Procedures , Humans , Occupational Health , Operating Rooms , Orthopedic Procedures , Orthopedics/education , Personnel Staffing and Scheduling , Professional Staff Committees , SARS-CoV-2 , Spinal Diseases/classification , Telemedicine , TriageABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To report the experience of the Nursing Committee for Coping with COVID-19 in Bahia. METHODS: The experience report describes motivation, objectives, representatives, organization, working groups, activities and impact of the Committee actions. RESULTS: The Committee consists of educational institutions and class representation. It accepts demands, questions and complaints from nursing workers, acts in favor of safe care and inspection of health and safety conditions at work. Five working groups and six technical support groups were formed. These groups address Communication, Review of Health Services Contingency Plans, Assistance to Long-Term Institutions, Epidemiology and External Activities. An Instagram account was created for quick and reliable access to information, and also an email to meet demands and monitor COVID-19 cases. CONCLUSION: The results of the Committee work contribute to guide, support, value and defend nursing workers in coping with COVID-19.
Subject(s)
Betacoronavirus , Coronavirus Infections/epidemiology , Nursing Staff , Occupational Health , Pneumonia, Viral/epidemiology , Professional Staff Committees/organization & administration , Brazil/epidemiology , COVID-19 , Coronavirus Infections/prevention & control , Humans , Motivation , Nursing Assistants , Occupational Diseases/epidemiology , Occupational Diseases/prevention & control , Pandemics/prevention & control , Pneumonia, Viral/prevention & control , SARS-CoV-2 , Socioeconomic FactorsSubject(s)
Betacoronavirus , Coronavirus Infections , Genital Neoplasms, Female/therapy , Interdisciplinary Communication , Medical Oncology/organization & administration , Pandemics , Patient Care Team , Pneumonia, Viral , Professional Staff Committees , Videoconferencing , Attitude of Health Personnel , COVID-19 , Computer Security , Confidentiality , Coronavirus Infections/complications , Disease Management , Female , France , Genital Neoplasms, Female/complications , Humans , Pneumonia, Viral/complications , Professional Staff Committees/organization & administration , Professional Staff Committees/trends , Quarantine , SARS-CoV-2 , Tertiary Care Centers , User-Computer Interface , Videoconferencing/organization & administration , Videoconferencing/trendsABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: The world is currently facing an unprecedented healthcare crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The objective of these guidelines is to produce a framework to facilitate the partial and gradual resumption of intervention activity in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: The group has endeavoured to produce a minimum number of recommendations to highlight the strengths to be retained in the 7 predefined areas: (1) protection of staff and patients; (2) benefit/risk and patient information; (3) preoperative assessment and decision on intervention; (4) modalities of the preanaesthesia consultation; (5) specificity of anaesthesia and analgesia; (6) dedicated circuits and (7) containment exit type of interventions. RESULTS: The SFAR Guideline panel provides 51 statements on anaesthesia management in the context of COVID-19 pandemic. After one round of discussion and various amendments, a strong agreement was reached for 100% of the recommendations and algorithms. CONCLUSION: We present suggestions for how the risk of transmission by and to anaesthetists can be minimised and how personal protective equipment policies relate to COVID-19 pandemic context.
Subject(s)
Analgesia/standards , Anesthesia/standards , Betacoronavirus , Coronavirus Infections , Infection Control/standards , Pandemics , Pneumonia, Viral , Adult , Airway Management , Analgesia/adverse effects , Analgesia/methods , Anesthesia/adverse effects , Anesthesia/methods , COVID-19 , COVID-19 Testing , Child , Clinical Laboratory Techniques , Comorbidity , Coronavirus Infections/diagnosis , Coronavirus Infections/prevention & control , Coronavirus Infections/transmission , Critical Pathways , Cross Infection/prevention & control , Cross Infection/transmission , Disinfection , Elective Surgical Procedures , Equipment Contamination/prevention & control , Health Services Accessibility , Humans , Infection Control/methods , Informed Consent , Occupational Diseases/prevention & control , Operating Rooms/standards , Pandemics/prevention & control , Patient Isolation , Personal Protective Equipment/supply & distribution , Pneumonia, Viral/prevention & control , Pneumonia, Viral/transmission , Preoperative Care , Professional Staff Committees , Risk , SARS-CoV-2 , Symptom Assessment , Universal PrecautionsABSTRACT
The first wave of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic required an unprecedented and historic increase in critical care capacity on a global scale in France. Authors and members from the ACUTE and REANIMATION committees of the French Society of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care (SFAR) wished to share experience and insights gained during the first weeks of this pandemic. These were summarised following the World Health Organization Response Checklist and detailed according to the subsequent subheadings: 1. Command and Control, 2. Communication, 3. Safety and Security, 4. Triage, 5. Surge Capacity, 6. Continuity of essential services, 7. Human resources, 8. Logistics and supply management, 9. Training/Preparation, 10. Psychological comfort for patients and next of kin, 11. Learning and 12. Post disaster recovery. These experience-based recommendations, consensual across all members from both committees of our national society, establish a practical framework for medical teams, either spared by the first wave of severe COVID patients or preparing for the second one.