Post-quake call for action: developing core competencies matrix for Syrian health workers in emergency time.

BACKGROUND: The recent earthquake in Syria has caused widespread devastation, leading to extensive damage and loss of life. Considering the diverse range of disasters and conflicts that have affected Syrian society, health workers must possess essential competencies to effectively manage various types of disasters, including earthquakes. Therefore, this study was undertaken to identify the specific competencies required by Syrian health workers to respond efficiently and effectively to earthquakes. METHODS: An exploratory qualitative study was conducted at the Medical Education Program MEP of the Syrian Virtual University SVU. Nine members of the research team of the MEP, who represent various health specializations in medicine, dentistry, nursing, and pharmacy, accepted to take part in this study. Among these, three members have been actively involved in providing health care in hospitals and the field during the Syrian earthquake on 6 February 2023. The Delphi process was adopted to identify competencies. Health workers involved in earthquake response were categorized into nine groups including medical doctors, dentists, pharmacists, nurses, psychological support professionals, medical students, allied healthcare professionals, on-site disaster teams, and managers. The final list was accepted if it achieved more than 80% agreement among the participants in the first, second, and final rounds. RESULTS: The study identified 74 competencies (12 knowledge items, 35 skills, and 27 attitudes) essential for health workers to respond effectively to earthquakes. They are categorized into five domains: "Preparing the team for the rescue process during and, after earthquakes, Implementation of the rescue process, Education and psychological support, Research, and development". CONCLUSION: A list of earthquake competencies was identified for health workers. It is hoped that this list will enhance a country's resilience and will enable decision-makers to support health workers in acquiring these competencies within a very strained health system in Syria and other countries.

Frail patients having vascular surgery during the early COVID-19 pandemic experienced high rates of adverse perioperative events and amputation.

BACKGROUND: Frailty predicts adverse perioperative outcomes and increased mortality in patients having vascular surgery. Frailty assessment is a potential tool to inform resource allocation, and shared decision-making about vascular surgery in the resource constrained COVID-19 pandemic environment. This cohort study describes the prevalence of frailty in patients having vascular surgery and the association between frailty, mortality and perioperative outcomes. METHODS: The COVID-19 Vascular Service in Australia (COVER-AU) prospective cohort study evaluates 30-day and six-month outcomes for consecutive patients having vascular surgery in 11 Australian vascular units, March-July 2020. The primary outcome was mortality, with secondary outcomes procedure-related outcomes and hospital utilization. Frailty was assessed using the nine-point visual Clinical Frailty Score, scores of 5 or more considered frail. RESULTS: Of the 917 patients enrolled, 203 were frail (22.1%). The 30 day and 6 month mortality was 2.0% (n = 20) and 5.9% (n = 35) respectively with no significant difference between frail and non-frail patients (OR 1.68, 95%CI 0.79-3.54). However, frail patients stayed longer in hospital, had more perioperative complications, and were more likely to be readmitted or have a reoperation when compared to non-frail patients. At 6 months, frail patients had twice the odds of major amputation compared to non-frail patients, after adjustment (OR 2.01; 95% CI 1.17-3.78), driven by a high rate of amputation during the period of reduced surgical activity. CONCLUSION: Our findings highlight that older, frail patients, experience potentially preventable adverse outcomes and there is a need for targeted interventions to optimize care, especially in times of healthcare stress.

A systematic review of venoplasty versus stenting for the treatment of central vein obstruction in ipsilateral hemodialysis access.

OBJECTIVE: This review examines the evidence regarding treatment of central vein obstruction (CVO) in the setting of ipsilateral hemodialysis access. The aim of this work is to identify whether long-term venous patency after central vein stenting is superior compared with balloon venoplasty. To date, there are no evidence-based guidelines to direct the management of CVO in the setting of ipsilateral hemodialysis access. METHODS: An extensive systematic database search was performed using Medline, Embase, and the Cochrane Databases to identify all articles published from January 2000 to November 2019 comparing the management of CVO with venoplasty and/or stenting in the setting of ipsilateral hemodialysis access fistulae/grafts. RESULTS: There were 655 patients with 456 stenoses and 208 occlusions who were treated; 288 underwent venoplasty and 345 underwent stenting. Twenty-two patients failed intervention owing to an inability to traverse the occlusion. The most affected vein was the brachiocephalic vein. A superior primary patency (PP) is noted in those treated with stenting compared with venoplasty in the first 2 years. Overall, both treatments are suboptimal demonstrating a 12-month PP rate of less than 60%. Assisted PP and secondary patency rates were similar for both venoplasty and stenting with a 12-month secondary patency rate of 77.8% to 91.6% for venoplasty and 89.6% to 98.4% for stenting. Periprocedural and long-term complications were rare for both interventions, occurring in 2% of patients. CONCLUSIONS: Although both treatments demonstrated poor patency rates, greater PP is noted for stenting in the first 2 years. Coupled with low complication rates, this finding highlights a potential benefit of stenting as a first-line treatment for CVO. Allowing for the overall poor quality of current studies, even this short-term improvement in PP may benefit patients undergoing hemodialysis. Further research with randomised control trials as well as assessment of adjuvant techniques such as drug-coated stents and balloons, anticoagulant therapy, and the role of intravascular ultrasound use is required.