International journal of emergency medicine
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In this paper, the authors review the safety and practicality of elastomeric respirators for protecting themselves and others from the novel coronavirus or COVID-19. They also describe the safe donning and doffing procedures for this protective gear. ⋯ Given the shortage of PPE for aerosols, it is logical to utilize reusable elastomeric respirators with filter efficiency of 95% or higher. A single elastomeric respirator may replace hundreds to thousands of new disposable N95 masks.
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Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has spread to 198 countries, with approximately 2.4 million confirmed cases and 150,000 deaths globally as of April 18. Frontline healthcare workers (HCWs) face a substantially higher risk of infection and death due to excessive COVID-19 exposure. This review aimed at summarizing the evidence of the physical and mental health impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on health-care workers (HCWs). ⋯ The frontline healthcare workers are at risk of physical and mental consequences directly as the result of providing care to patients with COVID-19. Even though there are few intervention studies, early data suggest implementation strategies to reduce the chances of infections, shorter shift lengths, and mechanisms for mental health support could reduce the morbidity and mortality amongst HCWs.
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To create an interactive mass casualty incident (MCI) curriculum for emergency medicine residents and to integrate them into the hospital disaster response, thereby creating a "trainee-specific emergency preparedness plan." ⋯ An interactive-based MCI curriculum is more engaging and may foster more retention than the traditional lecture approach. Resident involvement in the hospital disaster response is paramount as more hospitals are becoming teaching hospitals and mass casualty incidents are inevitable.