With the increasing spread and mortality of the COVID-19 (Coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic, it is essential for the healthcare community to be prepared per the international standards. This study is focused on assessing the preparedness of healthcare personnel and the effectiveness of an educational intervention to improve this preparedness in those dealing with the COVID-19 infection. A prospective, multicenter audit cycle was conducted on 400 healthcare professionals (271 junior doctors, 90 nurses, 39 non-clinical hospital workers) sampled through stratified random sampling. A questionnaire that was based on “Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC's) checklist for healthcare personnel's preparedness for transport and arrival of patients with confirmed or possible COVID-19” was sent to the participants after which an informative document, framed on the information provided by World Health Organization (WHO), CDC, and local guidelines from the Government of Pakistan's website, was distributed through social media platforms. The questionnaire was repeated after 2 weeks to close the audit loop. Chi-Square test and paired sample t -test were used to test significance. In the pre-intervention portion of the study, it was found out that the doctors and nurses had higher knowledge scores compared to the non-clinical hospital staff ( p ≤ 0.05). A statistically significant improvement was seen after the educational intervention was deployed ( p ≤ 0.05). The study concludes that the non-clinical staff, being a vital part of the healthcare framework, need to be educated and effective approaches for official inclusion of relevant information need to be incorporated into clinical practice to limit the transmission of COVID-19.

Background: Bone marrow examination is an invaluable tool in the diagnosis of hematological and non-hematological diseases. Referral is made based on the clinical after analyzing CBC and peripheral film.Objective: This study aims at evaluating the spectrum of diseases diagnosed on bone marrow biopsy at a tertiary care hospital of Rawalpindi, Pakistan.Materials and Methods: This descriptive, cross-sectional study was carried out at the pathology department of Holy family hospital for a duration of 1 year after ethical approval from IRF. All 220 cases requiring bone marrow examination were included in the study by consecutive sampling technique. Variables like age, gender, presenting complaints, examination findings, CBC, peripheral blood film, indications and diagnosis of bone marrow examination were noted. Data was analyzed using SPSS v22.Results: Mean age was 29.15±20.9 years. 117(53.2%) specimens were of males and 103(46.8%) were of females. Spectrum of hematological and non-hematological diseases found on bone marrow examination ranged from acute leukemia in 37(16.8%), megaloblastic anemia in 29(13.1%).The relationship between indications of referral and diagnosis of bone marrow examination was found to be statistically significant showing that suspected diagnosis made by the clinician was same as the final diagnosis in many cases. Pancytopenia was found major indication in most diseases (32.7%).Conclusion: Bone marrow examination is a useful tool in ascertaining diagnosis of various hematological and non-hematological disorders. Pancytopenia was found to be major indication whereas, acute leukemia and megaloblastic anemia were most common malignant and benign hematological disorders on bone marrow examination, respectively.