Articles: pandemics.
-
Am J Infect Control · Jan 2015
Current practices and barriers to the use of facemasks and respirators among hospital-based health care workers in Vietnam.
This study aimed to examine the knowledge, attitudes, and practices towards the use of facemasks among hospital-based health care workers (HCWs) in Hanoi, Vietnam. ⋯ In low and middle-income countries, access to appropriate levels of personal protective equipment may be restricted owing to competing demands for funding in hospital settings. It is important that issues around reuse and extended use of medical masks/respirators and decontamination of cloth masks are addressed in policy documents to minimize the risk of infection.
-
Health Technol Assess · Jan 2015
The PAndemic INfluenza Triage in the Emergency Department (PAINTED) pilot cohort study.
Research needs to be undertaken rapidly in the event of an influenza pandemic to develop and evaluate triage methods for people presenting to the emergency department with suspected pandemic influenza. ⋯ An observational cohort study to identify the most accurate triage method for predicting severe illness in emergency department attendees with suspected pandemic influenza is set up and ready to activate if, or when, a pandemic occurs.
-
Intensive Care Units (ICUs) provide life-supporting treatment; however, resources are limited, so demand may exceed supply in the event of pandemics, environmental disasters, or in the context of an aging population. We hypothesized that comprehensive national data on ICU resources would permit a better understanding of regional differences in system capacity. ⋯ ICU resources vary widely across Canadian provinces, and during times of increased demand, may result in geographic differences in the ability to care for critically ill patients. These results highlight the need to evolve inter-jurisdictional resource sharing during periods of substantial increase in demand, and provide background data for the development of appropriate critical care capacity benchmarks.