RESUMO
Rural surgeons from disparate areas of the United States report on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in their communities as the virus has spread across the country. The pandemic has brought significant changes to the professional, economic, and social lives of the individual surgeons and their communities.
Assuntos
COVID-19/epidemiologia , Serviços de Saúde Rural , Cirurgiões , Alaska/epidemiologia , Arizona/epidemiologia , Serviços de Saúde do Indígena/organização & administração , Serviços de Saúde do Indígena/estatística & dados numéricos , Hospitais Rurais/organização & administração , Hospitais Rurais/estatística & dados numéricos , Humanos , Idaho/epidemiologia , Illinois/epidemiologia , Indiana/epidemiologia , Ohio/epidemiologia , Oregon/epidemiologia , Serviços de Saúde Rural/organização & administração , Serviços de Saúde Rural/estatística & dados numéricos , População Rural , West Virginia/epidemiologiaRESUMO
Care for rural and urban surgical patients is increasingly more complex due to advancing knowledge and technology. Interhospital transfers occur in approximately 10% of index encounters at rural hospitals secondary to mismatch of patient needs and local resources. Due to the recent expansion of air transport to rural areas, distance and geography are less of a barrier. The interhospital transfer process is understudied and far from standardized. Interhospital transfer status is associated with increase in mortality, complications, length of stay, and costs. The cost, price to patients, and safety of air ambulance transports cannot be ignored.
Assuntos
Serviços de Saúde Rural , Saúde da População Rural , Procedimentos Cirúrgicos Operatórios , Estado Terminal , Humanos , Transferência da Responsabilidade pelo Paciente , Transferência de Pacientes , Transporte de Pacientes , Estados UnidosRESUMO
Nine surgeons from rural and remote communities in the United States share early experiences preparing for the COVID-19 pandemic. Relating experiences remarkably different from health care providers in urban areas in America most affected by the first stages of the outbreak, they tell the challenges of organizing resources in facilities already struggling with poverty-stricken communities far from established health care resources and supplies. From Alaska to Appalachia and the Navajo Nation to the rural midwest, they show the leadership and professionalism that exemplify rural surgery.
