Dataset Information

Ebola Emergency Preparedness: Simulation Training for Frontline Health Care Professionals.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

At Brigham and Women's Hospital, we identified the need for a comprehensive training program designed to prepare frontline staff to safely manage a patient with Ebola viral disease (EVD). The primary goal of this program was to ensure the safety of staff, patients, and the general public by training staff in the correct use of personal protective equipment (PPE) before, during, and after care of patients with EVD.

Methods

We delivered a 4-hour experiential training program to frontline health care professionals who would be expected to care for a patient with EVD. The program occurred in a simulation center with multiple flexible spaces and consisted of demonstration, multiple skills practice sessions, and a patient simulation case. We analyzed completed pre- and posttraining questionnaires. The questionnaire assessed their subjective level of confidence in three key areas: donning and doffing PPE, performing clinical skills while wearing PPE, and management of a contamination breach.

Results

This program was effectively deployed in the STRATUS Center for Medical Simulation over a 4-month period, with 220 health care professionals participating in the training and 195 participants completing the pre-/posttraining questionnaires. Our intervention significantly increased the confidence of participants on each primary objective (p = .001 for all three stations).

Discussion

This interprofessional simulation-based program has been shown to be a well-received method of training clinicians to manage patients collaboratively during an EVD outbreak. Our intent is that the skills taught in this training program would also be transferable to management of other infectious diseases in the clinical setting.

SUBMITTER: O'Keeffe DA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6354722 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Ebola Emergency Preparedness: Simulation Training for Frontline Health Care Professionals.

O'Keeffe Dara Ann DA Bradley Dorothy D Evans Linda L Bustamante Nirma N Timmel Matthew M Akkineni Roopa R Mulloy Deborah D Goralnick Eric E Pozner Charles C

MedEdPORTAL : the journal of teaching and learning resources 20160808

<h4>Introduction</h4>At Brigham and Women's Hospital, we identified the need for a comprehensive training program designed to prepare frontline staff to safely manage a patient with Ebola viral disease (EVD). The primary goal of this program was to ensure the safety of staff, patients, and the general public by training staff in the correct use of personal protective equipment (PPE) before, during, and after care of patients with EVD.<h4>Methods</h4>We delivered a 4-hour experiential training pr ...[more]

PMID: 30800728

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Project description:Upper respiratory viral infections can decrease the sense of smell either by inflammatory restriction of nasal airflow that carries the odorant molecules or through interference in olfactory sensory neuron function. During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, triggered by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), worldwide reports of severe smell loss (anosmia/hyposmia) revealed a different type of olfactory dysfunction associated with respiratory virus infection. Since self-reported perception of smell is subjective and SARS-CoV-2 exposure is variable in the general population, we aimed to study a population that would be more homogeneously exposed to the virus. Here, we investigated the prevalence of olfactory loss in frontline health professionals diagnosed with COVID-19 in Brazil, one of the major epicenters of the disease. We also analyzed the rate of olfactory function recovery and the particular characteristics of olfactory deficit in this population. A widely disclosed cross-sectional online survey directed to health care workers was developed by a group of researchers to collect data concerning demographic information, general symptoms, otolaryngological symptoms, comorbidities, and COVID-19 test results. Of the 1,376 health professionals who completed the questionnaire, 795 (57.8%) were working directly with COVID-19 patients, either in intensive care units, emergency rooms, wards, outpatient clinics, or other areas. Five-hundred forty-one (39.3%) participants tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, and 509 (37%) were not tested. Prevalence of olfactory dysfunction in COVID-19-positive subjects was 83.9% (454 of 541) compared to 12.9% (42 of 326) of those who tested negative and to 14.9% (76 of 509) of those not tested. Olfactory dysfunction incidence was higher in those working in wards, emergency rooms, and intensive care units compared to professionals in outpatient clinics. In general, remission from olfactory symptoms was frequent by the time of responses. Taste disturbances were present in 74.1% of infected participants and were significantly associated with hyposmia. In conclusion, olfactory dysfunction is highly correlated with exposure to SARS-CoV-2 in health care professionals, and remission rates up to 2 weeks are high.

Project description:BackgroundHealth care providers (HCPs) play an important role in public health emergency preparedness and response (PHEPR) so need to be aware of public health threats and emergencies. To inform HCPs, public health issues PHEPR messages that provide guidelines and updates, and facilitate surveillance so HCPs will recognize and control communicable diseases, prevent excess deaths and mitigate suffering. Public health agencies need to know that the PHEPR messages sent to HCPs reach their target audience and are effective and informative. Public health agencies need to know that the PHEPR messages sent to HCPs reach their target audience and are effective and informative. We conducted a literature review to investigate the systems and tools used by public health to generate PHEPR communications to HCPs, and to identify specific characteristics of message delivery mechanisms and formats that may be associated with effective PHEPR communications.MethodsA systematic review of peer- and non-peer-reviewed literature focused on the following questions: 1) What public health systems exist for communicating PHEPR messages from public health agencies to HCPs? 2) Have these systems been evaluated and, if yes, what criteria were used to evaluate these systems? 3) What have these evaluations discovered about characterizations of the most effective ways for public health agencies to communicate PHEPR messages to HCPs?ResultsWe identified 25 systems or tools for communicating PHEPR messages from public health agencies to HCPs. Few articles assessed PHEPR communication systems or messaging methods or outcomes. Only one study compared the effectiveness of the delivery format, device or message itself. We also discovered that the potential is high for HCPs to experience "message overload" given redundancy of PHEPR messaging in multiple formats and/or through different delivery systems.ConclusionsWe found that detailed descriptions of PHEPR messaging from public health to HCPs are scarce in the literature and, even when available are rarely evaluated in any systematic fashion. To meet present-day and future information needs for emergency preparedness, more attention needs to be given to evaluating the effectiveness of these systems in a scientifically rigorous manner.

Project description:BackgroundThe level of preparedness of the health care workers, the health facility and the entire health system determines the magnitude of the impact of an Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak as demonstrated by the West African Ebola outbreak. The objective of the study was to assess preparedness of the health care facilities and identify appropriate preparedness measures for Ebola outbreak response in Kasese and Rubirizi districts in western Uganda.MethodsA cross sectional descriptive study was conducted by interviewing 189 health care workers using a structured questionnaire and visits to 22 health facilities to determine the level of health care system preparedness to EVD outbreak. District level infrastructure capabilities, existence of health facility logistics and supplies, and health care workers' knowledge of EVD was assessed. EVD Preparedness was assessed on infrastructure and logistical capabilities and the level of knowledge of an individual health work about the etiology, control and prevention of EVD.ResultsTwelve out of the 22 of the health facilities, especially health center III's and IV's, did not have a line budget to respond to EVD when there was a threat of EVD in a nearby country. The majority (n = 13) of the facilities did not have the following: case definition books, rapid response teams and/or committees, burial teams, and simulation drills. There were no personal protective equipment that could be used within 8 h in case of an EVD outbreak in fourteen of the 22 health facilities. All facilities did not have Viral Hemorrhagic Fever (VHF) incident management centers, isolation units, guidelines for burial, and one-meter distance between a health care worker and a patient during triage. Overall, 54% (n = 102) of health care workers (HCWs) did not know the incubation period of EVD. HCWs who had tertiary education (aOR = 5.79; CI = 1.79-18.70; p = 0.003), and were Christian (aOR = 10.47; CI = 1.94-56.4; p = 0.006) were more likely to know about the biology, incubation period, causes and prevention of EVD.ConclusionsFeedback on the level of preparedness for the rural districts helps inform strategies for building capacity of these health centers in terms of infrastructure, logistics and improving knowledge of health care workers.

Dataset Information

Ebola Emergency Preparedness: Simulation Training for Frontline Health Care Professionals.

Introduction

Methods

Results

Discussion

Publications

Ebola Emergency Preparedness: Simulation Training for Frontline Health Care Professionals.

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