1. Preparedness and response to Pediatric CoVID-19 in European Emergency Departments: a survey of the REPEM and PERUKI networks
- Author
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Rianne Oostenbrink, Itai Shavit, Silvia Bressan, Ioannis Orfanos, Ruud G. Nijman, Florian Hoffmann, Ulle Uustalu, Ian Maconochie, Zanda Pucuka, Luigi Titomanlio, Niccolò Parri, Laurence Elisabeth Lacroix, Damian Roland, Marianne Sjølin Frederiksen, Liviana Da Dalt, Santiago Mintegi, Patrícia Mação, Gerard Cheron, Ruth Farrugia, Danilo Buonsenso, Valtyr Thors, Said Hachimi-Idrissi, Lina Jankauskaite, Michael Barrett, Hachimi-Idrissi, Said, Sjølin Frederiksen, Marianne, Uustalu, Ulle, Cheron, Gerard, Hoffmann, Florian, Thors, Valtyr, Barrett, Michael J., Shavit, Itai, Pucuka, Zanda, Mação, Patrícia, Orfanos, Ioannis, Lacroix, Laurence, Lacroix, Laurence Elisabeth, Supporting clinical sciences, Research Group Critical Care and Cerebral Resuscitation, and Pediatrics
- Subjects
Ireland/epidemiology ,Pneumonia, Viral/diagnosis ,Patient Isolation ,0302 clinical medicine ,Pandemic ,Prevalence ,Medicine ,030212 general & internal medicine ,Child ,Response rate (survey) ,education.field_of_study ,Emergency Service ,ddc:618 ,United Kingdom/epidemiology ,humanities ,Europe ,Personal Protective Equipment/supply & distribution ,Preparedness ,Emergency Service, Hospital/organization & administration ,Emergency Medicine ,Critical Pathways ,Medical emergency ,Coronavirus Infections ,Emergency Service, Hospital ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Referral ,Isolation (health care) ,Pneumonia, Viral ,Population ,Coronavirus Infections/diagnosis/epidemiology/therapy ,Article ,Europe/epidemiology ,03 medical and health sciences ,Betacoronavirus ,Pediatric emergency medicine ,Country Leads ,Humans ,education ,Personal protective equipment ,Personal Protective Equipment ,Pandemics ,Infection Control ,Contingency plan ,Coronavirus Infections/diagnosis ,Descriptive statistics ,business.industry ,SARS-CoV-2 ,Hospital/organization & administration/standards/statistics & numerical data ,COVID-19 ,030208 emergency & critical care medicine ,1103 Clinical Sciences ,Pneumonia ,medicine.disease ,Emergency & Critical Care Medicine ,United Kingdom ,Cross-Sectional Studies ,Family medicine ,Health Care Surveys ,Infection Control/standards ,Triage/standards ,Triage ,Viral/diagnosis/epidemiology/therapy ,business ,Ireland ,Facilities and Services Utilization - Abstract
Study objectiveWe aimed to describe the preparedness and response to the COVID-19 pandemic in referral EDs caring for children across Europe.MethodsWe did a cross-sectional point prevalence survey, which was developed and disseminated through the pediatric emergency medicine research networks for Europe (REPEM) and the United Kingdom and Ireland (PERUKI). We included a pre-determined number of centers based on each country population: five to ten EDs for countries with > 20 million inhabitants and one to five EDs for the other countries. ED directors or named delegates completed the survey between March 20th and 21st to report practice in use one month after the outbreak in Northern Italy. We used descriptive statistics to analyse data.ResultsOverall 102 centers from 18 countries completed the survey: 34% did not have an ED contingency plan for pandemics and 36% had never had simulations for such events. Wide variation on PPE items was shown for recommended PPE use at pre-triage and for patient assessment, with 62% of centers experiencing shortage in one or more PPE items. COVID-19 positive ED staff was reported in 25% of centers. Only 17% of EDs had negative pressure isolation rooms.ConclusionWe identified variability and gaps in preparedness and response to the COVID-19 epidemic across European referral EDs for children. Early availability of a documented contingency plan, provision of simulation training, appropriate use of PPE, and appropriate isolation facilities emerged as key factors that should be optimized to improve preparedness and inform responses to future pandemics.
- Published
- 2020