Making respiratory care safe for neonatal and paediatric intensive care unit staff: Mitigation strategies and use of filters
# Background Many medical devices in pediatric and newborn intensive care units can potentially expose healthcare workers (HCWs) and others to transmission of respiratory and other viruses and bacteria. Such fomites include ventilators, nebulizers, and monitoring equipment. # Approach We report t...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Canadian Society of Respiratory Therapists
2024-01-01
|
| Series: | Canadian Journal of Respiratory Therapy |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.29390/001c.91262 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1823857516286574592 |
|---|---|
| author | Bradley G Carter Edward Harcourt Alexandra Harris Michael Zampetti Trevor Duke David Tingay |
| author_facet | Bradley G Carter Edward Harcourt Alexandra Harris Michael Zampetti Trevor Duke David Tingay |
| author_sort | Bradley G Carter |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | # Background
Many medical devices in pediatric and newborn intensive care units can potentially expose healthcare workers (HCWs) and others to transmission of respiratory and other viruses and bacteria. Such fomites include ventilators, nebulizers, and monitoring equipment.
# Approach
We report the general, novel approach we have taken to identify and mitigate these risks and to protect HCWs, visitors and patients from exposure while maintaining the optimal performance of such respiratory equipment.
# Findings
The approach combined a high level of personal protective equipment (PPE), strict hand hygiene, air filtration and air conditioning and other relevant viral risk mitigation guidelines. This report describes the experiences from the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic to provide a reference framework that can be applied generally. The steps we took consisted of auditing our equipment and processes to identify risk through sources of potentially contaminated gas that may contain aerosolized virus, seeking advice and liaising with suppliers/manufacturers, devising mitigation strategies using indirect and direct approaches (largely filtering), performing tests on equipment to verify proper function and the absence of negative impacts and the development and implementation of relevant procedures and practices. We had a multidisciplinary team to guide the process. We monitored daily for hospital-acquired infections among staff caring for SARS-CoV-2 patients.
# Conclusion
Our approach was successful as we have continued to offer optimal intensive care to our patients, and we did not find any healthcare worker who was infected through the course of caring for patients at the bedside. The lessons learnt will be of benefit to future local outbreaks or pandemics. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-a6759edfc1c74f138acce80918324f7e |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2368-6820 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | Canadian Society of Respiratory Therapists |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Canadian Journal of Respiratory Therapy |
| spelling | doaj-art-a6759edfc1c74f138acce80918324f7e2025-02-11T20:30:51ZengCanadian Society of Respiratory TherapistsCanadian Journal of Respiratory Therapy2368-68202024-01-0160Making respiratory care safe for neonatal and paediatric intensive care unit staff: Mitigation strategies and use of filtersBradley G CarterEdward HarcourtAlexandra HarrisMichael ZampettiTrevor DukeDavid Tingay# Background Many medical devices in pediatric and newborn intensive care units can potentially expose healthcare workers (HCWs) and others to transmission of respiratory and other viruses and bacteria. Such fomites include ventilators, nebulizers, and monitoring equipment. # Approach We report the general, novel approach we have taken to identify and mitigate these risks and to protect HCWs, visitors and patients from exposure while maintaining the optimal performance of such respiratory equipment. # Findings The approach combined a high level of personal protective equipment (PPE), strict hand hygiene, air filtration and air conditioning and other relevant viral risk mitigation guidelines. This report describes the experiences from the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic to provide a reference framework that can be applied generally. The steps we took consisted of auditing our equipment and processes to identify risk through sources of potentially contaminated gas that may contain aerosolized virus, seeking advice and liaising with suppliers/manufacturers, devising mitigation strategies using indirect and direct approaches (largely filtering), performing tests on equipment to verify proper function and the absence of negative impacts and the development and implementation of relevant procedures and practices. We had a multidisciplinary team to guide the process. We monitored daily for hospital-acquired infections among staff caring for SARS-CoV-2 patients. # Conclusion Our approach was successful as we have continued to offer optimal intensive care to our patients, and we did not find any healthcare worker who was infected through the course of caring for patients at the bedside. The lessons learnt will be of benefit to future local outbreaks or pandemics.https://doi.org/10.29390/001c.91262 |
| spellingShingle | Bradley G Carter Edward Harcourt Alexandra Harris Michael Zampetti Trevor Duke David Tingay Making respiratory care safe for neonatal and paediatric intensive care unit staff: Mitigation strategies and use of filters Canadian Journal of Respiratory Therapy |
| title | Making respiratory care safe for neonatal and paediatric intensive care unit staff: Mitigation strategies and use of filters |
| title_full | Making respiratory care safe for neonatal and paediatric intensive care unit staff: Mitigation strategies and use of filters |
| title_fullStr | Making respiratory care safe for neonatal and paediatric intensive care unit staff: Mitigation strategies and use of filters |
| title_full_unstemmed | Making respiratory care safe for neonatal and paediatric intensive care unit staff: Mitigation strategies and use of filters |
| title_short | Making respiratory care safe for neonatal and paediatric intensive care unit staff: Mitigation strategies and use of filters |
| title_sort | making respiratory care safe for neonatal and paediatric intensive care unit staff mitigation strategies and use of filters |
| url | https://doi.org/10.29390/001c.91262 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT bradleygcarter makingrespiratorycaresafeforneonatalandpaediatricintensivecareunitstaffmitigationstrategiesanduseoffilters AT edwardharcourt makingrespiratorycaresafeforneonatalandpaediatricintensivecareunitstaffmitigationstrategiesanduseoffilters AT alexandraharris makingrespiratorycaresafeforneonatalandpaediatricintensivecareunitstaffmitigationstrategiesanduseoffilters AT michaelzampetti makingrespiratorycaresafeforneonatalandpaediatricintensivecareunitstaffmitigationstrategiesanduseoffilters AT trevorduke makingrespiratorycaresafeforneonatalandpaediatricintensivecareunitstaffmitigationstrategiesanduseoffilters AT davidtingay makingrespiratorycaresafeforneonatalandpaediatricintensivecareunitstaffmitigationstrategiesanduseoffilters |