Prioritising intubator safety in a pandemic: the details matter

Abstract

Our ED-intensive care unit has instituted a new protocol meant to maximise the safety of physicians, nurses and respiratory therapists involved with endotracheal intubation of patients known or suspected of being infected with the novel SARS-CoV-2. The level of detail involved with this checklist is a deviation from standard intubation practices and is likely unfamiliar to most emergency physicians. However, the two-person system used in our department removes the cognitive burden such complexity would otherwise demand and minimises the number of participants that would typically be exposed during endotracheal intubation. We share this checklist to demonstrate to other departments how adopting international airway guidelines to a specific institution can be achieved in order to promote healthcare worker safety.

The American Heart Association Emergency Cardiovascular Care 2030 Impact Goals and Call to Action to Improve Cardiac Arrest Outcomes: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association

“…8,9 Health care professionals had to consider their own risk of contracting COVID-19 in performing all resuscitations and invasive procedures. [10][11][12] Health care systems had to balance caring for critically ill patients with and without COVID-19, ensuring that health care staff had adequate personal protective equipment and in parallel avoiding COVID-19 transmission to patients with medical emergencies not related to COVID-19 or in need of routine medical care. The COVID-19 pandemic fractured health care systems' capacity to care for patients with conditions not related to COVID-19, with substantial consequences.…”

Was macht eine Notaufnahme schlagkräftig gegenüber einer Pandemie?

“…Insbesondere der Infektionsschutz mit persönlicher Schutzausrüstung (PSA) vor hochdosierten Expositionen gegenüber Erregern wie Influenza-und Coronaviren und das Erlernen von angepassten Intubationsmaßnahmen werden wichtig [8].…”