Mass Critical Care Surge Response During COVID-19: Implementation of Contingency Strategies - A Preliminary Report of Findings From the Task Force for Mass Critical Care.

BACKGROUND: After the publication of a 2014 consensus statement regarding mass critical care during public health emergencies, much has been learned about surge responses and the care of overwhelming numbers of patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. Gaps in prior pandemic planning were identified and require modification in the midst of severe ongoing surges throughout the world. RESEARCH QUESTION: A subcommittee from The Task Force for Mass Critical Care (TFMCC) investigated the most recent COVID-19 publications coupled with TFMCC members anecdotal experience in order to formulate operational strategies to optimize contingency level care, and prevent crisis care circumstances associated with increased mortality. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: TFMCC adopted a modified version of established rapid guideline methodologies from the World Health Organization and the Guidelines International Network-McMaster Guideline Development Checklist. With a consensus development process incorporating expert opinion to define important questions and extract evidence, the TFMCC developed relevant pandemic surge suggestions in a structured manner, incorporating peer-reviewed literature, "gray" evidence from lay media sources, and anecdotal experiential evidence. RESULTS: Ten suggestions were identified regarding staffing, load-balancing, communication, and technology. Staffing models are suggested with resilience strategies to support critical care staff. ICU surge strategies and strain indicators are suggested to enhance ICU prioritization tactics to maintain contingency level care and to avoid crisis triage, with early transfer strategies to further load-balance care. We suggest that intensivists and hospitalists be engaged with the incident command structure to ensure two-way communication, situational awareness, and the use of technology to support critical care delivery and families of patients in ICUs. INTERPRETATION: A subcommittee from the TFMCC offers interim evidence-informed operational strategies to assist hospitals and communities to plan for and respond to surge capacity demands resulting from COVID-19.

Surge Planning and Implementation: A Required Competency for Today's Nurse Leaders.

The ability to respond effectively and efficiently during times of crisis, including a pandemic, has emerged as a competency for nurse leaders. This article describes one institution's experience using the American Organization of Nurse Leaders Competencies for Nurse Executives in operationalizing the concept of surge capacity.

The Virtual Hospital: An Innovative Solution for Disaster Response.

Like any disaster, the COVID-19 pandemic has presented significant challenges to healthcare systems, especially the threat of insufficient bed capacity and resources. Hospitals have been required to plan for and implement innovative approaches to expand hospital inpatient and intensive care capacity. This article presents how one of the largest healthcare systems in the United States leveraged existing technology infrastructure to create a virtual hospital that extended care beyond the walls of the "brick and mortar" hospital.

Upgrades to intensive care: The effects of COVID-19 on decision-making in the emergency department.

INTRODUCTION: The initial surge of critically ill patients in the COVID-19 pandemic severely disrupted processes at acute care hospitals. This study examines the frequency and causes for patients upgraded to intensive care unit (ICU) level care following admission from the emergency department (ED) to non-critical care units. METHODS: The number of ICU upgrades per month was determined, including the percentage of upgrades noted to have non-concordant diagnoses. Charts with non-concordant diagnoses were examined in detail as to the ED medical decision-making, clinical circumstances surrounding the upgrade, and presence of a diagnosis of COVID-19. For each case, a cognitive bias was assigned. RESULTS: The percentage of upgraded cases with non-concordant diagnoses increased from a baseline range of 14-20% to 41.3%. The majority of upgrades were due to premature closure (72.2%), anchoring (61.1%), and confirmation bias (55.6%). CONCLUSION: Consistent with the behavioral literature, this suggests that stressful ambient conditions affect cognitive reasoning processes.

Variation in Initial U.S. Hospital Responses to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic.

OBJECTIVES: The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has strained many healthcare systems. In response, U.S. hospitals altered their care delivery systems, but there are few data regarding specific structural changes. Understanding these changes is important to guide interpretation of outcomes and inform pandemic preparedness. We sought to characterize emergency responses across hospitals in the United States over time and in the context of local case rates early in the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. DESIGN: We surveyed hospitals from a national acute care trials group regarding operational and structural changes made in response to the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic from January to August 2020. We collected prepandemic characteristics and changes to hospital system, space, staffing, and equipment during the pandemic. We compared the timing of these changes with county-level coronavirus disease 2019 case rates. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: U.S. hospitals participating in the Prevention and Early Treatment of Acute Lung Injury Network Coronavirus Disease 2019 Observational study. Site investigators at each hospital collected local data. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Forty-five sites participated (94% response rate). System-level changes (incident command activation and elective procedure cancellation) occurred at nearly all sites, preceding rises in local case rates. The peak inpatient census during the pandemic was greater than the prior hospital bed capacity in 57% of sites with notable regional variation. Nearly half (49%) expanded ward capacity, and 63% expanded ICU capacity, with nearly all bed expansion achieved through repurposing of clinical spaces. Two-thirds of sites adapted staffing to care for patients with coronavirus disease 2019, with 48% implementing tiered staffing models, 49% adding temporary physicians, nurses, or respiratory therapists, and 30% changing the ratios of physicians or nurses to patients. CONCLUSIONS: The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic prompted widespread system-level changes, but front-line clinical care varied widely according to specific hospital needs and infrastructure. Linking operational changes to care delivery processes is a necessary step to understand the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic on patient outcomes.

An Evidence-Based Strategy to Scale Vaccination in Canada.

Provincial health systems have been challenged by the surge in healthcare demands caused by the COVID-19 pandemic; the COVID-19 vaccine rollout across the country has further added to these challenges. A successful vaccination campaign is widely viewed as the only way to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic, placing greater urgency on the need for a rapid vaccination strategy. In this paper, we present emerging findings, from a national research study, that document the key challenges faced by current vaccine rollout strategies, which include procurement and leadership strategies, citizen engagement and limitations in supply chain capacity. These findings are used to inform a scalable vaccine strategy comprising collaborative leadership, mobilization of an integrated workforce and a digitally enabled supply chain strategy. The goal of vaccinating the entire Canadian population in the next few months can be achieved when supported by such a strategy.

Actions Taken by US Hospitals to Prepare for Increased Demand for Intensive Care During the First Wave of COVID-19: A National Survey.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic placed considerable strain on critical care resources. How US hospitals responded to this crisis is unknown. RESEARCH QUESTION: What actions did US hospitals take to prepare for a potential surge in demand for critical care services in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic? STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: From September to November 2020, the chief nursing officers of a representative sample of US hospitals were surveyed regarding organizational actions taken to increase or maintain critical care capacity during the COVID-19 pandemic. Weighted proportions of hospitals for each potential action were calculated to create estimates across the entire population of US hospitals, accounting for both the sampling strategy and nonresponse. Also examined was whether the types of actions taken varied according to the cumulative regional incidence of COVID-19 cases. RESULTS: Responses were received from 169 of 540 surveyed US hospitals (response rate, 31.3%). Almost all hospitals canceled or postponed elective surgeries (96.7%) and nonsurgical procedures (94.8%). Few hospitals created new medical units in areas not typically dedicated to health care (12.9%), and almost none adopted triage protocols (5.6%) or protocols to connect multiple patients to a single ventilator (4.8%). Actions to increase or preserve ICU staff, including use of ICU telemedicine, were highly variable, without any single dominant strategy. Hospitals experiencing a higher incidence of COVID-19 did not consistently take different actions compared with hospitals facing lower incidence. INTERPRETATION: Responses of hospitals to the mass need for critical care services due to the COVID-19 pandemic were highly variable. Most hospitals canceled procedures to preserve ICU capacity and scaled up ICU capacity using existing clinical space and staffing. Future research linking hospital response to patient outcomes can inform planning for additional surges of this pandemic or other events in the future.

Bench Building during COVID-19: Creating Capabilities and Training Teams.

BACKGROUND: Keller Army Community Hospital, a 12-bed community hospital located in the Hudson Valley of New York State, within the pandemic epicenter anticipated the surge of critically ill patients, which would overwhelm local resources during the coronavirus pandemic sweeping across the globe. In this facility, there were no Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds and resources were mobilized in order to create a negative pressure Corona Virus Unit (CVU) consisting of seven ICU beds and two step-down beds. Although the creation of the CVU decreased the non-COVID inpatient capacity to five beds, the hospital also formulated a plan to expand overall bed capacity from 12 inpatient beds to 45 beds within 24 hours. OBJECTIVE: To create a ICU embedded within a CVU and implement a three day curriculum to prepare four mixed teams of critical care and non-critical care staff nurses to manage critically ill patients with the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). METHODS: Nursing leaders and hospital education staff developed a critical care curriculum utilizing Elsevier didactic, the DoD COVID-19 Practice Guide, and hands-on training for 34 nurses.1,2 Nurses had varied scope of practice levels from licensed practical nurses to advance practice nurses, with diverse critical care expertise to non-critical care nursing staff from the primary care medical home (PCMH), all of which participated in the cross-leveling to the CVU unit during the pandemic response. Educational elements included PPE donning and doffing, mechanical ventilation, central venous catheter maintenance, arterial catheter management, hemodynamics, and critical care pharmacotherapy. A medical model skills station with common critical care equipment such as ventilators allowed for instantaneous feedback and 13 hands-on skills training. RESULTS: A fully functional ICU and CVU was created with thirty-four nurses who completed training within seven days with a didactic completing rate of 94.65 % and 100% hands-on skills. The program endures with monthly tailored re-fresher training to improve efficiency and maintain critical competencies. The team maintained operational readiness through the surge and remain resolute for the next surge. CONCLUSIONS: On-going program execution and evaluation continues to develop new staff members due to permanent change of station, recent on-boarding, or because of evidence based clinical guideline changes. Training has continued, but shifted to include normal inpatient operations over the summer of 2020. Re-fresher classes covering the treatment and care of COVID patients continue with the anticipation of a second wave surge of COVID-19 cases emerges this fall based on epidemiology predictions.

Prácticas clínicas seguras durante la pandemia por COVID-19 / Safe clinical practices during the COVID-19 pandemic

No disponible

[The disaster task force medical officer as a pivotal decision maker in the superordinate pandemic hospital capacity management : A field report covering the initial COVID-19 surge in a Bavarian district]. / Der Ärztliche Leiter Führungsgruppe Katastrophenschutz als zentrale Entscheidungsinstanz bei der Steuerung regionaler Krankenhauskapazitäten in der Pandemie : Ein Erfahrungsbericht zur ersten Welle der COVID-19-Pandemie in einem bayerischen Regierungsbezirk.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: During the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic the government of the state of Bavaria, Germany, declared a state of emergency for its entire territory for the first time in history. Some areas in eastern Bavaria were among the most severely affected communities in Germany, prompting authorities and hospitals to build up capacities for a surge of COVID-19 patients. In some areas, intensive care unit (ICU) capacities were heavily engaged, which occasionally made a redistribution of patients necessary. MATERIAL AND METHODS: For managing COVID-19-related hospital capacities and patient allocation, crisis management squads in Bavaria were expanded by disaster task force medical officers ("Ärztlicher Leiter Führungsgruppe Katastrophenschutz" [MO]) with substantial executive authority. The authors report their experiences as MO concerning the superordinate patient allocation management in the district of Upper Palatinate (Oberpfalz) in eastern Bavaria. RESULTS: By abandoning routine patient care and building up additional ICU resources, surge capacity for the treatment of COVID-19 patients was generated in hospitals. In parts of the Oberpfalz, ICU capacities were almost entirely occupied by patients with corona virus infections, making reallocation to other hospitals within the district and beyond necessary. The MO managed patient pathways in an escalating manner by defining local (within the region of responsibility of a single MO), regional (within the district), and cross-regional (over district borders) reallocation lanes, as needed. When regional or cross-regional reallocation lanes had to be established, an additional management level located at the district government was involved. Within the determined reallocation lanes, emitting and receiving hospitals mutually agreed on any patient transfer without explicitly involving the MO, thereby maintaining the established interhospital routine transfer procedures. The number of patients and available treatment resources at each hospital were monitored with the help of a web-based treatment capacity registry. If indicated, reallocation lanes were dynamically revised according to the present situation. To oppose further virus spreading in nursing homes, the state government prohibited patient allocation to these facilities, which led to considerably longer hospital length of stay of convalescent elderly and/or dependent patients. In parallel to the flattening of the COVID-19 incidence curve, routine hospital patient care could be re-established in a stepwise manner. CONCLUSION: Patient allocation during the state of emergency by the MO sought to keep up routine interhospital reallocation procedures as much as possible, thereby reducing management time and effort. Occasionally, difficulties were observed during patient allocations crossing district borders, if other MO followed different management principles. The nursing home blockade and conflicting financial interests of hospitals posed challenges to the work of the disaster task force medical officers.

Disease Outbreak Surge Response: How a Singapore Tertiary Hospital Converted a Multi-story Carpark Into a Flu Screening Area to Respond to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), first documented in December 2019, was declared a public health emergency by the World Health Organization (WHO) on January 30, 2020 (https://www.who.int/westernpacific/emergencies/covid-19). The disease, caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus, has affected more than 9 million people and contributed to at least 490,000 deaths globally as of June 2020, with numbers on the rise (https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/#countries).Increased numbers of patients seeking medical attention during disease outbreaks can overwhelm healthcare facilities, hence requiring an equivalent response from healthcare services. Surge capacity is a concept that has not only been defined as the "ability to respond to a sudden increase in patient care demands" (Hick et al., Disaster Med Public Health Prep. 2008;2:S51-S57) but also to "effectively and rapidly expand capacity" (Watson et al., Milbank Q. 2013;91(1):78-122).This narrative review discusses how Singapore's largest tertiary hospital has encapsulated the elements of surge capability and transformed a peacetime multi-story carpark into a flu screening area in response to the COVID-19 disease outbreak.

Rapid response to COVID-19, escalation and de-escalation strategies to match surge capacity of Intensive Care beds to a large scale epidemic. / Respuesta rápida a COVID-19, estrategias de escalada y desescalada para ajustar la capacidad suplementaria de camas de UVI a una epidemia de gran magnitud.

BACKGROUND: A major challenge during the COVID-19 outbreak is the sudden increase in ICU bed occupancy rate. In this article we reviewed the strategies of escalation and de-escalation put in place at a large university hospital in Madrid during the COVID-19 outbreak, in order to meet the growing demand of ICU beds. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The data displayed originated from the hospital information system and the hospital contingency plan. RESULTS: The COVID-19 outbreak produced a surge of ICU patients which saturated the available ICU capacity within a few days. A total of four new ICUs had to be opened in order to accommodate all necessary new ICU admissions. Management challenges included infrastructure, material allocation and ICU staffing. Through the strategies put in place the hospital was able to generate a surge capacity of ICU beds of 340%, meet all requirements and also maintain minimal surgical activity. CONCLUSIONS: Hospital surge capacity is to date hardly quantifiable and often has to face physical limitations (material, personnel, spaces). However an extremely flexible and adaptable management strategy can help to overcome some of these limitations and stretch the system capacities during times of extreme need.

Population Health Strategies to Support Hospital and Intensive Care Unit Resiliency During the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Italian Experience.

Italy was one of the countries most affected by the number of people infected and dead during the first COVID-19 wave. The authors describe the rapid rollout of a population health clinical and organizational response in preparedness and capabilities to support the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Italian province of Modena. The authors review the processes, the challenges faced, and describe how excess demand for hospital services was successfully mitigated and thus overwhelming the healthcare services avoided the collapse of the local health care system. An analysis of bed occupancy in the region predicted during the first weeks of the epidemic. The SEIR model estimated the number of infected people under different containment measures. Community resources were mobilized to reduce provincial hospitals' burden of care. A population health approach, based on a radical reorganization of the workflow and emergency patient management, was implemented. The bed saturation of the Modena Healthcare Agency was measured by an ad hoc, newly implemented intensive care unit (ICU) bed occupancy and COVID-19 centralized governance dashboard. ICU bed occupancy increased by 114%, avoiding saturation of the Modena Healthcare Agency system. The Emilia-Romagna region achieved a higher rate of ICU bed availability at 2.15 ICU beds per 10,000 inhabitants as compared with community 1 ICU bed availability prior to the pandemic. Rapid and radical local reorganization of regional efforts helped inform the successful development and implementation of strategic choices within the hospital and the community to prevent the saturation of key facilities.

What Is the Preparedness and Capacity of Palliative Care Services in Middle-Eastern and North African Countries to Respond to COVID-19? A Rapid Survey.

CONTEXT: Evidence from prior public health emergencies demonstrates palliative care's importance to manage symptoms, make advance care plans, and improve end-of-life outcomes. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the preparedness and capacity of palliative care services in the Middle-East and North Africa region to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: A cross-sectional online survey was undertaken, with items addressing the WHO International Health Regulations. Nonprobabilistic sampling was used, and descriptive analyses were conducted. RESULTS: Responses from 43 services in 12 countries were analyzed. Half of respondents were doctors (53%), and services were predominantly hospital based (84%). All but one services had modified at least one procedure to respond to COVID-19. Do Not Resuscitate policies were modified by a third (30%) and unavailable for a fifth (23%). While handwashing facilities at points of entry were available (98%), a third had concerns over accessing disinfectant products (37%), soap (35%), or running water (33%). The majority had capacity to use technology to provide remote care (86%) and contact lists of patients and staff (93%), though only two-fifths had relatives' details (37%). Respondents reported high staff anxiety about becoming infected themselves (median score 8 on 1-10 scale), but only half of services had a stress management procedure (53%). Three-fifths had plans to support triaging COVID-19 patients (60%) and protocols to share (58%). CONCLUSION: Participating services have prepared to respond to COVID-19, but their capacity to respond may be limited by lack of staff support and resources. We propose recommendations to improve service preparedness and relieve unnecessary suffering.

Guía de vigilancia de eventos supuestamente atribuibles a la vacunación e inmunización: Bolivia 2021 / Surveillance guide for events supposedly attributable to vaccination and immunization: Bolivia 2021

El presente documento establece los lineamientos técnicos para la vigilancia integrada de los Eventos Supuestamente Atribuibles a la Vacunación e Inmunización (ESAVI) El documento se estructura en seis capítulos: en el Capítulo I se enfatiza el impacto de las vacunas en el perfil epidemiológico de la salud infantil y se establecen los objetivos del manual y de la vigilancia integrada de los Eventos Supuestamente Atribuibles a la Vacunación e Inmunización, ESAVI. En el Capítulo II se describen los componentes de la vacunación segura como la Calidad e inocuidad, Transporte y almacenamiento seguro, Inyecciones seguras, Disposición final y la Vigilancia de ESAVI como elemento importante en la vacunación segura. En el Capítulo III se describe el marco conceptual de los ESAVI y los parámetros de clasificación final de los mismos. En el Capítulo IV se describen cada uno de los pasos de la vigilancia epidemiológica de los ESAVI desde la detección, la evaluación inicial, notificación, investigación, reporte, plan de acción, seguimiento y retroalimentación. Además, se establece las responsabilidades compartidas entre el personal operativo, el Programa Ampliado de Inmunización (PAI) y la Agencia Estatal de Medicamentos y Tecnología en salud, (AGEMED). En el capítulo V se expone el protocolo de investigación de los ESAVI desde la definición de que se va a investigar, como recolectar la información, el análisis de la información, planificar, ejecutar, evaluar acciones y el Informe de investigación del ESAVI. En el Capítulo VI se describe todos los elementos de la gestión de crisis que incluye líneas de acción estratégica que se deben adoptar al interior del Programa para evitar, prevenir o contener la aparición y desarrollo de amenazas que puedan poner en riesgo la implementación adecuada y oportuna de sus procesos

Daniela Buosi fala sobre crime da Vale em Brumadinho: 314ª RO