Preparing your intensive care unit for the COVID-19 pandemic: practical considerations and strategies

Goh, Julian Park Nam; Wong, Jolin; Tien, Jong Chie Claudia; Ng, Shin Yi; Wen, Sewa Duu; Phua, Ghee Chee; Leong, Carrie Kah-Lai

doi:10.1186/s13054-020-02916-4

Cited by 118 publications

(157 citation statements)

References 65 publications

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“…When preparing for a surge in the number of COVID-19 cases, increasing critical care unit bed capacity, coupled with an increase in the number of mechanical ventilation devices, is crucial [70,71]. Budget planning for procurement of personal protective equipment and alcohol-based hand sanitizers, as well as preparedness for potential worsening staff shortage is also required for such circumstances [71][72][73] Coupling infection prevention and control measures with antibiotic stewardship additionally limits the emergence and spread of difficult-to-treat multidrug-resistant organisms [75,76].…”

Section: Recommendations At the Hospital Levelmentioning

confidence: 99%

COVID-19: Second Wave or Multiple Peaks, Natural Herd Immunity or Vaccine – We Should be Prepared

Moghnieh

Abdallah

Bizri

2020

Disaster med. public health prep.

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Between the 31st of December 2019 and the 30th of August 2020 (date of this article), the novel coronavirus and its corresponding infection, COVID-19, more than 25 million cases and 843,158 deaths have been registered. Countries around the world have been affected, albeit in different levels and intensities. Despite implementations of preventive public health measures, most countries are seriously preparing for one or more waves. The threat of this surge is likely to persist until herd immunity is acquired either by natural infection or through vaccination. However, given the time frame needed for herd immunity to occur and the low probability that a vaccine will be available on a global scale by the coming fall and winter seasons, contingency preparedness plans should be established and put in place for the coming days or months. These plans should help mitigate new peaks of the pandemic while relaxing the social isolation rules, patient, public health, and hospital levels. In this article, we go about recommendations that practicing physicians and public health agencies should provide to individuals, especially those at risk of infection, to take and implement pre-emptive measures in anticipation of the potential next peak of the pandemic.

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Section: Recommendations At the Hospital Levelmentioning

confidence: 99%

COVID-19: Second Wave or Multiple Peaks, Natural Herd Immunity or Vaccine – We Should be Prepared

Moghnieh

Abdallah

Bizri

2020

Disaster med. public health prep.

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“…There is guidance available for establishing an infectious disease unit (8); however, implementation is a daunting task and requires pragmatic solutions. In general, setting up a new facility involves four main components: space, stuff (supplies), staff, and maintaining standards (9). Herein, we describe our experience in transforming a general healthcare facility to a dedicated infectious disease setup in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transforming a General Hospital to an Infectious Disease Hospital for COVID-19 Over 2 Weeks

Pandey

Kaushal

Puri

et al. 2020

Front. Public Health

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Pandemics like the coronavirus disease (COVID)-19 can cause a significant strain on the healthcare system. Healthcare organizations must be ready with their contingency plans for managing many patients with contagious infectious disease. Ideally, every large hospital should have a facility that can function as a high-level isolation unit. An isolation unit ensures that the healthcare staff and the hospital are equipped to deal with infectious disease outbreaks. Unfortunately, such facilities do not exist in several hospitals, especially in resource-limited settings. In such a scenario, healthcare setups need to convert their existing general structure into an infectious disease facility. Herein, we describe our experience in transforming a general hospital into a functional infectious disease isolation unit.

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“…Education and training of ICU staff is the most effective measure to control infection. The training conducted for healthcare workers during COVID-19 should focus on the following: handling and disinfecting PPE, online lecture courses aiming to provide guidance training, and courses to improve staff preparedness as well as their abilities to combat COVID-19, and to treat patients appropriately [25,26].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Concerns for low-resource countries, with under-prepared intensive care units, facing the COVID-19 pandemic

Elhadi

Msherghi

Alkeelani

et al. 2020

Infection, Disease & Health

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Background: Low-resource countries with fragile healthcare systems lack trained healthcare professionals and specialized resources for COVID-19 patient hospitalization, including mechanical ventilators. Additional socioeconomic complications such as civil war and financial crisis in Libya and other low-resource countries further complicate healthcare delivery. Methods: A cross-sectional survey evaluating hospital and intensive care unit's capacity and readiness was performed from 16 leading Libyan hospitals in March 2020. In addition, a survey was conducted among 400 doctors who worked in these hospitals to evaluate the status of personal protective equipment. Results: Out of 16 hospitals, the highest hospital capacity was 1000 in-patient beds, while the lowest was 25 beds with a median of 200 (IQR 52e417, range 25e1000) hospital beds. However, a median of only eight (IQR 6e14, range 3e37) available functioning ICU beds were reported in these hospitals. Only 9 (IQR 4.5e14, range 2e20) mechanical ventilators were reported and none of the hospitals had a reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction machine for COVID-19 testing. Moreover, they relied on one of two central laboratories located in major cities. Our PPE survey revealed that 56.7% hospitals lacked PPE and 53% of healthcare workers reported that they

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Preparing your intensive care unit for the COVID-19 pandemic: practical considerations and strategies

Cited by 118 publications

References 65 publications

COVID-19: Second Wave or Multiple Peaks, Natural Herd Immunity or Vaccine – We Should be Prepared

COVID-19: Second Wave or Multiple Peaks, Natural Herd Immunity or Vaccine – We Should be Prepared

Transforming a General Hospital to an Infectious Disease Hospital for COVID-19 Over 2 Weeks

Concerns for low-resource countries, with under-prepared intensive care units, facing the COVID-19 pandemic

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