Start Date

5-28-2020 9:00 AM

End Date

5-28-2020 5:00 PM

Description

What’s the Problem?

Intubation is an aerosol-generating procedure that poses a significant infectious risk to the operator in the COVID-19 era, where the volume of intubations was expected to increase dramatically. Following national anesthesia societal and organizational recommendations regarding best practices to decrease risk of viral transmission, a new 3-person airway team approach was developed. Additions to the preexisting airway management workflow included an aerosol-containing intubation shield, a new breathing circuit configuration incorporating HEPA filtration, and the use of unfamiliar PPE, all of which required mastery of a complex sequence of events surrounding the patient encounter. This high-stakes workflow was a substantial departure from standard practice and a broad educational effort was required. A departmental simulation was developed to this end.

Keywords

COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, coronavirus

Comments

Presented at the 2020 House Staff Quality Improvement and Patient Safety Conference

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May 28th, 9:00 AM May 28th, 5:00 PM

Anesthesiologist-led COVID-19 Airway Training Skills Session to teach novel team approach and workflow

What’s the Problem?

Intubation is an aerosol-generating procedure that poses a significant infectious risk to the operator in the COVID-19 era, where the volume of intubations was expected to increase dramatically. Following national anesthesia societal and organizational recommendations regarding best practices to decrease risk of viral transmission, a new 3-person airway team approach was developed. Additions to the preexisting airway management workflow included an aerosol-containing intubation shield, a new breathing circuit configuration incorporating HEPA filtration, and the use of unfamiliar PPE, all of which required mastery of a complex sequence of events surrounding the patient encounter. This high-stakes workflow was a substantial departure from standard practice and a broad educational effort was required. A departmental simulation was developed to this end.