Disaster medicine and public health preparedness
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Disaster Med Public Health Prep · Aug 2020
Holistic Analysis of Coronavirus Literature: A Scientometric Study of the Global Publications Relevant to SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19), MERS-CoV (MERS) and SARS-CoV (SARS).
In late December 2019, a cluster of patients with pneumonia caused by an unknown pathogen was reported from Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. The pathogen has been identified as a novel coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and the disease has been named as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The objective of this study was to perform the first holistic scientometric evaluation of coronavirus publications. ⋯ While in the 1980s, the United States and developed countries from Europe were major source countries and the virus was identified only as an animal disease in the literature and its biological and genetic structure was investigated, in the 2000s, China became a major contributor of coronavirus literature because the SARS outbreak originated from southern China. Almost all most-cited publications in this period are related to SARS and the ACE2 protein.
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Disaster Med Public Health Prep · Aug 2020
Reduced Emergency Department Utilization During the Early Phase of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Viral Fear or Lockdown Effect?
Since the beginning of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, several frontline workers have expressed their concerns about reduced emergency department (ED) utilization. We aimed to examine the changes in ED utilization during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, in a country with a well-developed primary care system. ⋯ ED utilization was markedly reduced during the local rise of COVID-19 in a region with a well-developed primary care system and relatively low ED self-referral rates. Although it cannot directly be concluded from the findings of our study, this observation likely reflects a complex interaction between pure lockdown effects and viral fear, which warrants further research.
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Disaster Med Public Health Prep · Aug 2020
Randomized Controlled TrialA RANDOMIZED TRIAL OF INSTRUCTOR-LED TRAINING VERSUS VIDEO LESSON IN TRAINING HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS IN PROPER DONNING AND DOFFING OF PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT.
This study compared live instructor-led training with video-based instruction in personal protective equipment (PPE) donning and doffing. It assessed the difference in performance between (1) attending 1 instructor-led training session in donning and doffing PPE at 1 month prior to assessment, and (2) watching training videos for 1 month. ⋯ Our study found no significant difference in donning and doffing scores between instructor-led and video lessons. Video training could be a fast and resource-efficient method of training in PPE donning and doffing in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Disaster Med Public Health Prep · Aug 2020
Defining COVID-19 as a Disaster Helps Guide Public Mental Health Policy.
The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic continues to be a devastating chapter in history. The consequences of the pandemic unfold daily and they extend beyond physical health. Current research suggests that it is a public mental health crisis. ⋯ A similar approach must be taken to address the mental health effects of the pandemic. Because COVID-19 can fit the definitions of a mental health disaster, it can be addressed using the principles of disaster mental health management. This letter to the editor presents arguments for defining COVID-19 as a mental health disaster, the challenges facing policy-makers in addressing it as such, and calls upon researchers to fill this gap in the literature.
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Disaster Med Public Health Prep · Aug 2020
ReviewTranslating COVID-19 Pandemic Surge Theory to Practice in the Emergency Department: How to Expand Structure.
Multiple professional societies, nongovernment and government agencies have studied the science of sudden onset disaster mass casualty incidents to create and promote surge response guidelines. The COVID-19 pandemic has presented the health-care system with challenges that have limited science to guide the staff, stuff, and structure surge response. ⋯ The on-line ahead of print and print COVID-19 scientific publications, as well as gray literature were studied to learn the best available COVID-19 surge structural response science. A checklist was created to guide the emergency department team's COVID-19 surge structural response.