Healthcare at the time of COVID-19: A review of the current situation with emphasis on anesthesia providers

Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is spreading rapidly around the world with devastating consequences on patients, healthcare workers, health systems, as well as economies. While, healthcare systems are globally operating at maximum capacity, healthcare workers and especially anesthesia providers are facing extreme pressures, something that is also leading to declining availability and increasing stress. In this regard, it is extremely concerning the fact that some regions worldwide have reported up to 20% of their cases to be healthcare workers. When considering that the global case fatality rate may be as much as 5.4%, these numbers are concerning and unacceptable. As this pandemic accelerates, access to personal protective equipment for health workers is a key concern since at present, healthcare workers are every country's most valuable resource in the fight against COVID-19. Governments and heath organizations should take care of their staff and support them in any way possible. This review aims to describe the current situation anesthesia providers are facing in the setting of COVID-19 and provide solutions and evidence on important concerns, including which guidance to follow, the level of equipment that is adequate, and the level of protection they need for every patient being administered an anesthetic.

Overview of the User Experience for Snorkeling Mask Designs during the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Up to now, few clinical studies have evaluated the products obtained by AM or the NM’s performance for NIV or PPE safety for HCWs. Considering the airway management guidelines, different documents and studies have been published from public institutes since the beginning of the pandemic [ 109 ], which are mostly updated on a regular basis to summarize a clear and up-to-date guidance to follow. In general, it is important to provide equipment, approved by the responsible government organization, to the patient and HCWs, to protect their health.…”

Second Update for Anaesthetists on Clinical Features of COVID-19 Patients and Relevant Management

“…Judging from these data, it may be wise to postpone surgery for all but the most urgent of SARS-CoV-2 positive cases—bearing in mind that it is currently not known how long it takes before perioperative risk has returned to baseline. The fact that a postoperative diagnosis of COVID-19 results in similar death rate and risk of PPC as a preoperative diagnosis indicates that all precautions should be taken to protect postsurgical patients against SARS-CoV-2 infection [ 2 ].…”

“…Where new data on subjects discussed in our previous paper were available, this is mentioned in the text. The reader is also referred to another review that is highly relevant for anaesthesia providers during the COVID pandemic [ 2 ].…”

Four pandemics: lessons learned, lessons lost

“…The novel coronavirus outbreak of 2019-2020 resulting in the potentially life-threatening disease of COVID-19 is going on at the time of writing this article [18]. This fourth pandemic of the past 100 years, among other issues [19][20][21][22][23][24] has exposed a pretty new problem for public health: misleading or false information. COVID-19 and the Spanish flu share some similar features: both diseases are highly contagious and both outbreaks occurred in an era when people left home: the Spanish flu during a world war and COVID-19 in an era of globalization.…”