COVID-19 CHALLENGES TO EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT TRIAGE
Keywords:
COVID 19, Emergency Department, Triage, Contamination, DecontaminationAbstract
One of the most important and with utmost significance to the patients' life procedure performed into the emergency department is the triage. Based on the triage result are planned, organized and performed the following array of medical procedures. Has to be highlighted that the triage is the base for the patients' medical support prioritization. COVID 19 pandemic has seriously changed the well established for decades triage organization into the emergency departments, thus challenging the emergency medics stamina and hospitals structure resources. Not only the psychological but and the physical endurance of the emergency department personnel are challenged.
The aim of this study is to present some of the most significant challenges related to the ongoing COVID 19 pandemic, emergency department managers and staff have to face and overcome for establishing and maintain an effective triage process.
Materials and Methods By the means of the descriptive method the imposed by the COVID 19 pandemic changes into the emergency medical personnel triage protocols are analyzed. The analyses are based on the clinical reports, published articles and the personal experience. The recorded changes are analyzed in line to the increased demands towards the medical specialists in the emergency department.
Results and Discussion Every emergency department mandatory establish a structure and protocols for triage. The protocols are unified addressing the need of prioritization in medical procedures. Triage is the first step of the patient management and has to be extremely precise, but at the same time less time consuming, especially when the life is endangered, as is the case into the emergency departments.
COVID 19 imply specific organization of the triage, because of the associated threat for spreading the infection among the medical personnel and the non infected patients requiring urgent medical support. Therefore, in the real world the dedicated for triage area room into the emergency department has to enlarged by the inclusion of "contaminated" area and isolation area for those who are with COVID 19 symptoms and those that are suspected to be infected. These patients have to be separated from the ordinary emergency department patients that will continue to seek life-saving medical aid. This require split into the duty shift personnel between the two areas and also following a strict decontamination protocols.
The applied into University hospital "St. George" Plovdiv changes into the structure and organization is presented.
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