Disaster medicine and public health preparedness
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Disaster Med Public Health Prep · Jun 2021
Use of Incident Command System for Disaster Preparedness: A Model for an Emergency Department COVID-19 Response.
The COVID-19 pandemic has placed unprecedented demands on health systems, where hospitals have become overwhelmed with patients amidst limited resources. Disaster response and resource allocation during such crises present multiple challenges. A breakdown in communication and organization can lead to unnecessary disruptions and adverse events. ⋯ Key components of this ICS include a hospital-wide incident command or Joint Operations Center (JOC) and an ED Forward Command. This type of structure leads to a shared mental model with division of responsibilities that allows institutional adaptations to changing environments and maintenance of specific roles for optimal coordination and communication. We present this as a model that can be applied to other hospital EDs around the country to help structure the response to the COVID-19 pandemic while remaining generalizable to other disaster situations.
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Disaster Med Public Health Prep · Mar 2021
Assessment of the Preparedness and Planning of Academic Emergency Departments in India During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Multicentric Survey.
Emergency medicine being a young specialty in India, we aimed to assess the level of disaster preparedness and planning strategies among various academic emergency departments (EDs) across India during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. ⋯ Our study highlights the high variance in the level of preparedness response among various EDs across India during the pandemic. Preparedness for different EDs across India needs to be individually assessed and planned according to the needs and resources available.
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Disaster Med Public Health Prep · Feb 2021
Face Masks for All and All for Face Masks in the COVID-19 Pandemic: Community Level Production to Face the Global Shortage and Shorten the Epidemic.
The current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused a global shortage of medical masks, leaving most exposed health personnel without appropriate protection. Since the beginning of the outbreak, the World Health Organization WHO) has revised several times the recommendations on general use of facemasks. Until recently, WHO recommended to limit the use of facemasks to symptomatic people and advised against off-standard solutions. ⋯ Especially in low-middle income countries, due to the scarce capacity of national industrial production or import, the use of masks produced at community level may become the only viable option. For the purpose ad hoc guidelines will be needed. Current knowledge and experience call for further and updated review of global and national guidelines to provide clear and consistent criteria to ensure the widest availability and appropriate use of facial protection, bearing in mind populations in socio-economic disadvantaged settings.
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Disaster Med Public Health Prep · Feb 2021
Protection and Response of a Tertiary Hospital in South Korea to the COVID-19 Outbreak.
Here, we present an overview of how a tertiary hospital responded to maintain necessary activities and protect patients and staff from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak. ⋯ While tertiary hospitals play an important role in treating both COVID-19 patients and non-COVID-19 patients, hospital staff have to protect themselves from unexpected in-hospital transmission. A multifaceted response must be undertaken to protect tertiary hospitals and their staff during the COVID-19 epidemic.