From intensive care to step-down units: Managing patients throughput in response to COVID-19

Autor: Agnoletti, Vanni, Russo, Emanuele, Circelli, Alessandro, Benni, Marco, Bolondi, Giuliano, Martino, Costanza, Domenico, P, Santonastas, O, Brogi, Etrusca, Praticò, Beniamino, Coccolini, Federico, Fugazzola, Paola, Ansaloni, Luca, Gamberini, Emiliano
Přispěvatelé: Agnoletti V., Russo E., Circelli A., Benni M., Bolondi G., Martino C., Santonastaso D.P., Brogi E., Pratico B., Coccolini F., Fugazzola P., Ansaloni L., Gamberini E.
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2021
Předmět:
Waiting time
medicine.medical_specialty
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)
Critical Illness
Coronaviru
Intensivist
intensive care unit
law.invention
03 medical and health sciences
0302 clinical medicine
length of stay
law
Intensive care
Epidemiology
medicine
Humans
Mass Casualty Incidents
AcademicSubjects/MED00860
030212 general & internal medicine
mass casualty incident
Personal protective equipment
Pandemics
Coronavirus
Hospital Bed Capacity
Intensive Care Units
Length of Stay
Step Down Units
Bed Occupancy
business.industry
SARS-CoV-2
030503 health policy & services
Health Policy
Public Health
Environmental and Occupational Health

COVID-19
General Medicine
medicine.disease
Intensive care unit
hospital bed capacity
Mass-casualty incident
Italy
Quality in Practice
Medical emergency
step-down units
0305 other medical science
business
Intermediate Care Facilities
Zdroj: International Journal for Quality in Health Care
Popis: Quality problem or issue The on-going COVID-19 pandemic may cause the collapse of healthcare systems because of unprecedented hospitalization rates. Initial assessment A total of 8.2 individuals per 1000 inhabitants have been diagnosed with COVID-19 in our province. The hospital predisposed 110 beds for COVID-19 patients: on the day of the local peak, 90% of them were occupied and intensive care unit (ICU) faced unprecedented admission rates, fearing system collapse. Choice of solution Instead of increasing the number of ICU beds, the creation of a step-down unit (SDU) close to the ICU was preferred: the aim was to safely improve the transfer of patients and to relieve ICU from the risk of overload. Implementation A nine-bed SDU was created next to the ICU, led by intensivists and ICU nurses, with adequate personal protective equipment, monitoring systems and ventilators for respiratory support when needed. A second six-bed SDU was also created. Evaluation Patients were clinically comparable to those of most reports from Western Countries now available in the literature. ICU never needed supernumerary beds, no patient died in the SDU, and there was no waiting time for ICU admission of critical patients. SDU has been affordable from human resources, safety and economic points of view. Lessons learned COVID-19 is like an enduring mass casualty incident. Solutions tailored on local epidemiology and available resources should be implemented to preserve the efficiency and adaptability of our institutions and provide the adequate sanitary response.
Databáze: OpenAIRE