CMAJ open
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Multicenter Study
Modelling resource requirements and physician staffing to provide virtual urgent medical care for residents of long-term care homes: a cross-sectional study.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak increases the importance of strategies to enhance urgent medical care delivery in long-term care (LTC) facilities that could potentially reduce transfers to emergency departments. The study objective was to model resource requirements to deliver virtual urgent medical care in LTC facilities. ⋯ The provision of acute medical care to LTC residents at their facility would probably require rapid access to outpatient diagnostic imaging, within-facility access to laboratory services and intravenous medication and virtual consultations with physicians. The results of this study can inform efforts to deliver urgent medical care in LTC facilities in light of a potential surge in COVID-19 cases.
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In pandemics, local hospitals need to anticipate a surge in health care needs. We examined the modelled surge because of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic that was used to inform the early hospital-level response against cases as they transpired. ⋯ Scenario-based analyses were reliable in estimating short-term cases, but would require frequent re-analyses. Distribution of the city's surge was expected to vary across hospitals, and community-level strategies were key to mitigating each hospital's surge.
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Comparative Study Observational Study
Effect of COVID-19 on computed tomography usage and critical test results in the emergency department: an observational study.
The effect of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on new or unexpected radiologic findings in the emergency department (ED) is unclear. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the number of computed tomography (CT) critical test results in the ED. ⋯ Emergency department CT volumes markedly decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic, predominantly because there were fewer examinations with new or unexpected findings. This suggests that COVID-19 public information campaigns influenced the behaviours of patients presenting to the ED.
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Comparative Study
A comparison of droplet and contact contamination using 3 simulated barrier techniques for COVID-19 intubation: a quality assurance study.
The intubation of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) puts health care workers at risk of infection through aerosol, droplet and contact contamination. We evaluated the risk of droplet and contact contamination for health care workers using 3 intubation barrier techniques as part of a quality assurance study at our institution. ⋯ Use of a plastic sheet while intubating patients with COVID-19 may increase the risk of droplet and contact contamination during intubation and impede intubation. Further study should be undertaken before implementing barrier techniques in practice.