Deployment of a New CRRT/PIRRT Device during the COVID-19 Pandemic Emergency: Organizational Challenges and Implementation Results.

INTRODUCTION: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic led to increased demand nationwide for dialysis equipment, including supplies and machines. To meet the demand in our institution, our surge plan included rapid mobilization of a novel continuous renal replacement treatment (CRRT) machine named SAMI. The SAMI is a push-pull filtration enhanced dialysis machine that can conjugate extremely high single-pass solute removal efficiency with very precise fluid balance control. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Machine assembly was conducted on-site by local biomedical engineers with remote assistance by the vendor. One 3-h virtual training session of 3 dialysis nurses was conducted before SAMI deployment. The SAMI was deployed in prolonged intermittent replacement therapy (PIRRT) mode to maximize patients covered per machine per day. Live on-demand vendor support was provided to troubleshoot any issues for the first few cases. After 4 weeks of the SAMI implementation, data on treatments with the SAMI were collected, and a questionnaire was provided to the nurse trainees to assess device usability. RESULTS: On-site installation of the SAMI was accomplished with remote assistance. Delivery of remote training was successfully achieved. 23 PIRRT treatments were conducted in 10 patients. 7/10 of patients had CO-VID-19. The median PIRRT dose was 50 mL/kg/h (IQR [interquartile range] 44 - 62 mL/kg/h), and duration of the treatment was 8 h (IQR 6.3 - 8 h). Solute control was adequate. The user response was favorable to the set of usability questions involving user interface, on-screen instructions, machine setup, troubleshooting, and the ease of moving the machine. CONCLUSION: Assembly of the SAMI and training of nurses remotely are possible when access to vendor employees is restricted during states of emergency. The successful deployment of the SAMI in our institution during the pandemic with only 3-h virtual training supports that operating the SAMI is simple and safe.

[Integral incident management system in primary care: Beyond patient safety]. / Sistema integral de gestión de incidencias en atención primaria: más allá de la seguridad del paciente.

OBJECTIVE: To describe an integral system of notification and management of incidents, created by the Primary Care Team of Guineueta, as well as the main results after 18 months of implementation. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Using a simple online form, health professionals notified any type of, already categorised, incident. Each of them were distributed to an improvement team that assessed and performed the necessary actions. In addition, the Quality Committee immediately assessed the ones that affected patient safety, as well as the most relevant or repetitive ones every 6 months. RESULTS: During the first 18 months of operation of the system, the health professionals reported 1,267 incidents, most notably informatics, maintenance/technical assistance, and errors in scheduling, in internal circuits and protocols. Eight of them were considered to significantly affect patient safety. CONCLUSIONS: The implementation of the described system has been consolidated into our team, facilitating the detection of problems, the accomplishment of improvement actions and involving the professionals in the improvement of the quality.

Complex M&E for new orthopaedic centre.

Paul Briars, North West regional director for independent engineering, IT, and facilities services business, NG Bailey (pictured), discusses the company's part in a major redevelopment at one of the UK's top orthopaedic hospitals, Wrightington Hospital in Lancashire --famous as the site, in the early 1960s, of first ever hip replacement operations, by pioneering surgeon, Professor Sir John Charnley (HEJ --April 2013).

Carbon reduction and greater resilience in the pipeline.

Claire Hennessy, head of Operational Estates and Facilities Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (HEJ - May 2016), describes a major infrastructure project currently ongoing at Oxford's John Radcliffe and Churchill Hospitals to upgrade and modernize heating and energy systems - one of the most challenging aspects of which has been the installation of a 1.4 km district heating system (Energy Link) between the two sites, involving laying of a variety of pipework and cabling under local roads. Without the heating and energy project, she explains, not only would the Trust have struggled to get through another winter, but it could also not have contemplated the redevelopment of the Churchill site, or met the expected needs of the John Radcliffe Hospital now and into the future.

Act quickly and harness the right expertise.

In an article that first appeared in The Australian Hospital Engineer, Jeremy Stamkos, principal indoor environment consultant for Eronmor, a specialist indoor air quality consultancy, advises on some of the key steps that hospitals and other healthcare facilities should take following 'water ingress events'--to both protect property from damage, and safeguard the health of patients, visitors, and staff. The key, he stresses, is to act quickly and, where necessary, to harness specialist external expertise.