Disaster medicine and public health preparedness
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Disaster Med Public Health Prep · Oct 2020
COVID-19 Result Follow-up Process in the Pediatric Emergency Department Setting.
The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic upended the world. As emergency departments and hospitals across the nation and world braced themselves for the surge of this new disease, the emergency department (ED) at Children's National Hospital (CNH) quickly created a process to address surges in patient visits and follow-ups for coronavirus testing. ⋯ With over 1900 patients discharged pending their COVID-19 results, the program is successful. We anticipate expansion into antibody testing and notification as the pandemic progresses.
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Disaster Med Public Health Prep · Oct 2020
The Role of Israel's Emergency Medical Services During a Pandemic in the Pre-Exposure Period.
The scientific literature on coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is extensive, but little is written about the role of emergency medical services (EMS). The objective of this study is to describe the role of Magen David Adom (MDA), Israel's national emergency prehospital medical organization, in the pre-exposure period, before widespread governmental action. These efforts were based on (1) phone diagnosis, dispatch, and transport; and (2) border management checkpoints. ⋯ EMS can work effectively in the pre-exposure period through instructing home quarantine, providing protected transport, and staffing border control checkpoints.
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Disaster Med Public Health Prep · Oct 2020
Physician Workforce Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic at an Academic Medical Center.
The aim of this study was to describe the planning, implementation, and outcome of an acute care physician supplemental workforce during the local coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) surge at a 771-bed academic medical center, from March 25 to May 5, 2020, in New Jersey, United States. ⋯ Successful physician workforce staffing for medical disasters, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, requires consideration of personal risk, as well as medicolegal, financial, and clinical competency issues.
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Disaster Med Public Health Prep · Oct 2020
COVID-19 and Global Health Security: Overview of the Global Health Security Alliance, COVID-19 Response, African Countries' Approaches, and Ethics.
Public health emergencies can arise from a wide range of causes, one of which includes outbreaks of contagion. The world has continued to be threatened by various infectious outbreaks of different types that have global consequences. ⋯ Pandemic response policies and processes all need to be trusted for effective and ethical pandemic response. As the world can learn during the past few years about frequent infectious disease outbreaks, (these) diseases respect no borders, and, therefore, our spirit of solidarity must respect no borders in our efforts to stop the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and be better prepared to respond effectively to a health crisis in the future.
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Disaster Med Public Health Prep · Oct 2020
Optimizing Pandemic Preparedness and Response Through Health Information Systems: Lessons Learned From Ebola to COVID-19.
Strengthening health systems and maintaining essential service delivery during health emergencies response is critical for early detection and diagnosis, prompt treatment, and effective control of pandemics, including the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Health information systems (HIS) developed during recent Ebola outbreaks in West Africa and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) provided opportunities to collect, analyze, and distribute data to inform both day-to-day and long-term policy decisions on outbreak preparedness. ⋯ In reviewing literature of how HIS could have further supported mitigation of these Ebola outbreaks and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, 3 key areas were identified: governance and coordination, health systems infrastructure and resources, and community engagement. In this concept study, we outline scalable HIS lessons from recent Ebola outbreaks and early COVID-19 responses along these 3 domains, synthesizing recommendations to offer clear, evidence-based approaches on how to leverage HIS to strengthen the current pandemic response and foster community health systems resilience moving forward.