Covid-19: Protecting Worker Health

Semple, Sean; Cherrie, John W.

doi:10.1093/annweh/wxaa033

Cited by 89 publications

(70 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…The current COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in widespread anxiety, lack of confidence and concern for their personal safety amongst HCWs, particularly related to PPE use [21,22], as was noted during previous infectious disease emergencies [23,24]. PPE training should be a blend of both theory and practice, but our results indicate that over a third (39%) of respondents do not include a practical component in their training programme for routine PPE.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 79%

Characteristics of personal protective equipment training programs in Australia and New Zealand hospitals: A survey

Barratt

Shaban

Gilbert

2020

Infection, Disease & Health

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Background: Using personal protective equipment (PPE) is one of several fundamental measures to prevent the transmission of infection and infectious diseases and is particularly pertinent in the current COVID-19 pandemic. Appropriate use of PPE by healthcare workers is, however, often suboptimal. Training and monitoring of PPE competency are essential components of an infection prevention and control program but there is a paucity of research and data on the content of such training programs across Australasia. This paper reports the results of a survey that characterised the nature of PPE training in Australian and New Zealand hospitals. Methods: A population-based online survey was distributed to members of three major Australasian colleges representing infection prevention and control. Results: Results indicate that, although training is frequently provided at orientation, many healthcare workers do not receive regular updates. Training programmes combine online and classroom sessions, but over a third do not include a practical component. The frequency of monitoring PPE competency is variable with one third of respondents indicating that no auditing occurs. PPE items used for high-level training are variable, with use of powered air purifying respirators (PAPRs) uncommon. Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that HCWs' confidence, competence and familiarity with PPE are a concern, which in the context of the current global COVID-19 pandemic is

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 79%

Characteristics of personal protective equipment training programs in Australia and New Zealand hospitals: A survey

Barratt

Shaban

Gilbert

2020

Infection, Disease & Health

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“…The use of in situ simulation as a proactive risk mitigation strategy to prepare healthcare organizations for pandemic planning is well supported in the literature [8,9,[26][27][28]. Pandemics place high demands on clinical care and potential risk of contamination for HCP, which increases the fear of spread to others [1,36,37]. Deliberate practice through simulation can reduce the cognitive load of HCP involved in direct frontline patient care, potentially mitigating latent safety threats (LSTs) (e.g., errors in design, organization, and/or training that may have a significant impact on patient safety) in times of extended pressure, exhaustion, and burnout [38].…”

Section: Pandemic Preparedness and Planning: Role Of Simulation For Tmentioning

confidence: 99%

COVID-19 pandemic preparation: using simulation for systems-based learning to prepare the largest healthcare workforce and system in Canada

et al. 2020

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Healthcare resources have been strained to previously unforeseeable limits as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. This has prompted the emergence of critical just-in-time COVID-19 education, including rapid simulation preparedness, evaluation and training across all healthcare sectors. Simulation has been proven to be pivotal for both healthcare provider learning and systems integration in the context of testing and integrating new processes, workflows, and rapid changes to practice (e.g., new cognitive aids, checklists, protocols) and changes to the delivery of clinical care. The individual, team, and systems learnings generated from proactive simulation training is occurring at unprecedented volume and speed in our healthcare system. Establishing a clear process to collect and report simulation outcomes has never been more important for staff and patient safety to reduce preventable harm. Our provincial simulation program in the province of Alberta, Canada (population = 4.37 million; geographic area = 661,848 km 2), has rapidly responded to this need by leading the intake, design, development, planning, and co-facilitation of over 400 acute care simulations across our province in both urban and rural Emergency Departments, Intensive Care Units, Operating Rooms, Labor and Delivery Units, Urgent Care Centers, Diagnostic Imaging and In-patient Units over a 5-week period to an estimated 30,000 learners of real frontline team members. Unfortunately, the speed at which the COVID-19 pandemic has emerged in Canada may prevent healthcare sectors in both urban and rural settings to have an opportunity for healthcare teams to participate in just-in-time in situ simulation-based learning prior to a potential surge of COVID-19 patients. Our coordinated approach and infrastructure have enabled organizational learnings and the ability to theme and categorize a mass volume of simulation outcome data, primarily from acute care settings to help all sectors further anticipate and plan. The goal of this paper is to share the unique features and advantages of using a centralized provincial simulation response team, preparedness using learning and systems integration methods, and to share the highest risk and highest frequency outcomes from analyzing a mass volume of COVID-19 simulation data across the largest health authority in Canada.

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“…Healthcare workers (HCW) have a high occupational risk related to SARS-CoV-2 infection [ 1 ]. Italian data show that, currently, 11.9% of all the diagnosed COVID-19 cases (27,439 out of 230,414 diagnoses) occurred in HCW [ 2 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Increased Risk of COVID-19-Related Deaths among General Practitioners in Italy

Modenese

Gobba

2020

Healthcare

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To date, data on COVID-19-related death cases among physicians from different medical specialties are incomplete and scattered. In Italy, available data highlight that general practitioners (GPs) are, apparently, the most heavily affected group. Indeed, they currently represent 44.1% of the total COVID-19 related death cases occurred among physicians, whereas they constitute about 15% of the total number of doctors. This high proportion is most likely the consequence of a work-related contagion happening especially during the first weeks of the epidemic, and persisting also in the following weeks, after the national lockdown. There are various reasons for these higher contagion rates: GPs perform a lot of medical examinations daily, usually in close contact with patients. Especially at the beginning of the epidemic, GPs might have had scant information on the specific safety procedures for the prevention of SARS-CoV-2 transmission (e.g., there was limited knowledge on the possibility of contagions deriving from asymptomatic patients) and, moreover, the availability of personal protective equipment was insufficient. Furthermore, the risk of infection is highly increased by the virus’ characteristics, like its survival for several hours/days on different surfaces and its persistence in the air after an aerosolization process, with possibilities to be transmitted over distances longer than two meters. Following these observations, and considering the high cost in term of GPs’ lives, the COVID-19 pandemic will probably revolutionize the approach to patients in general practice. Clear and effective guidelines are absolutely and urgently needed for the refinement of adequate measures to prevent SARS-CoV-2 infections among GPs.

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Covid-19: Protecting Worker Health

Cited by 89 publications

References 16 publications

Characteristics of personal protective equipment training programs in Australia and New Zealand hospitals: A survey

Characteristics of personal protective equipment training programs in Australia and New Zealand hospitals: A survey

COVID-19 pandemic preparation: using simulation for systems-based learning to prepare the largest healthcare workforce and system in Canada

Increased Risk of COVID-19-Related Deaths among General Practitioners in Italy

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