Use of Slack for COVID-19 disaster response in Hyogo Prefecture.

INTRODUCTION: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused great disruptions in education and healthcare systems. However, before the COVID-19 pandemic, Hyogo Prefecture did not have a centralized system for sharing information among hospitals, public healthcare centers, the government, fire departments, and medical associations. In March 2021, we used Slack,® an enterprise social network, to invite people from hospitals, healthcare centers, the government, fire departments, and medical associations to join our workspace. This study was undertaken to verify whether the use of Slack can improve information sharing during a disaster. METHODS: A questionnaire on whether information-sharing tools such as Slack are useful for disaster response in Hyogo Prefecture, including for COVID-19, was administered using a Google Form. RESULTS: Of the 19 people who responded to the questionnaire, 15 (78.9 percent) were first-time users of Slack and 18 (94.7 percent) found it easy to use. All 19 participants stated that Slack proved useful in providing pertinent information regarding preventive measures for the control of COVID-19, and they believed that it would be a helpful tool if such disasters were to occur in the future. Regarding the launch time of Slack, 11 respondents (57.9 percent) answered that it was launched at the appropriate time, while five respondents (26.3 percent) answered that it was launched too late. CONCLUSIONS: The participants thought that Slack was effective for accelerating their communication. The use of Slack could also improve future disaster response communications.

Improving residential care amid COVID-19: The link between risk factors and hospitalization.

AIM: This study was conducted to investigate the relationship between the hospitalizations and backgrounds of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 to identify specific risk factors. METHODS: This retrospective study used health observation records to analyze the relationship between certain risk factors and the subsequent hospitalization of 321 patients who were discharged from a residential care facility between January 16 and February 8, 2021. The usefulness of a hospitalization prediction score, created based on the presence of comorbidities and sex, was examined. RESULTS: Being older, male, and having a history of high blood pressure or vascular disease were all risk factors. A multivariate analysis with age and hospitalization predictive score as independent variables and hospitalization as the dependent variable showed that age (odds ratio: 1.07, 95 percent confidence interval: 1.03-1.11, p < 0.01) significantly increased hospitalization risk by 7 percent for every 1-year age increase. The median time from illness onset to hospitalization for all patients was 9 days (interquartile range: 8-10). Hypoxia was the most common cause of hospitalization. However, hypoxia and other symptoms, such as cough and dyspnea, were not correlated. CONCLUSION: Given the pandemic, there may come another time when hospitals are not able to accommodate all patients who require care. In such instances, age, sex, the presence of comorbidities, and checking oxygen saturation regularly using a pulse oximeter around 9 days after the onset of the disease should all be considered important, as it may lead to improved and safer operation of overnight care facilities.

Two cases of cryptogenic life-threatening hemoptysis - identification and management of bleeding point.

Cases: Case 1: A 63-year-old woman was referred for coughing blood. Although cardiorespiratory dynamics were stabilized by artificial respiration under sedation, severely poor ventilation developed from asphyxia associated with massive respiratory tract hemorrhage. One-lung ventilation was temporarily secured by endotracheal tube insertion into the left main bronchus just prior to cardiopulmonary arrest.Case 2: A 72-year-old man was referred for massive hemoptysis after coughing, then intubated and placed on a respirator. During angiography, blood clots collected with bronchoscopy confirmed extravascular leakage into the right main bronchus. Outcomes: Both showed no hemoptysis recurrence after bronchial artery embolization and were discharged. Case 1 required intensive treatment for 6 days, including artificial respiratory management. Conclusion: Emergency one-lung ventilation was required for asphyxia in Case 1, and we had difficulties with bleeding point identification and hemostatic therapy. From that experience, we noted hemoptysis during angiography using bronchoscopy in Case 2, enabling prompt bronchial artery embolization.