{"id":79722,"date":"2021-05-18T14:43:52","date_gmt":"2021-05-18T18:43:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mileniostadium.com\/?p=79722"},"modified":"2021-05-18T14:44:42","modified_gmt":"2021-05-18T18:44:42","slug":"hospital-staff-train-in-new-er-tents-to-prepare-for-surge-in-non-covid-19-patients","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mileniostadium.com\/local\/gta\/hospital-staff-train-in-new-er-tents-to-prepare-for-surge-in-non-covid-19-patients\/","title":{"rendered":"Hospital staff train in new ER tents to prepare for surge in non-COVID-19 patients"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Hospital
Brad Poechman, a registered nurse, participates in simulation training in a tent outside Toronto General Hospital. (Talia Ricci\/CBC)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Outside Toronto General Hospital’s emergency entrance, a stretcher appears quickly after a call for help.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hundreds of ICU patients transferred between Ontario hospitals as COVID-19 admissions rise<\/a><\/p>\n

Around a dozen health-care workers in PPE practise responding to a simulated cardiac arrest.\u00a0Some are observing the process as a\u00a0medical mannequin\u00a0is carefully lifted onto the stretcher, CPR is performed and nurses check for a pulse.<\/p>\n

<\/section>\n

This\u00a0situation isn’t new to\u00a0hospital staff, but the environment\u00a0is;\u00a0they’re working in tents\u00a0erected outside.<\/p>\n

“These tents have been designed as waiting rooms and the purpose of them is to help people socially distance while waiting in the emerg\u00a0so they can feel safer when they come here,” Dr. Alia Dharamsi\u00a0explained.\u00a0The physician at the\u00a0University Health Network (UHN) is also the\u00a0lead for the emergency department’s in-situ simulation program.<\/p>\n

Recently, hospital staff, including\u00a0registered nurses, nurse managers and educators, doctors and even security guards, have been running through various simulations to ensure any challenges in this new care setting \u2014\u00a0medical or environmental \u2014 are addressed.<\/p>\n

Even though new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations have been slowly going down, UHN says its emergency departments are still busy. As its hospitals anticipate a surge in patients who have been delaying care, staff are coming up with ways to create more space and ensure patients feel safe.<\/p>\n

\"Dr
Dr. Alia Dharamsi, a staff emergency physician and the lead for UHN emergency department’s in-situ simulation program, says simulations have played a huge role in preparing health-care workers throughout the pandemic. (Talia Ricci\/CBC)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Last week,\u00a0the team ran through\u00a0simulations in the tent responding to a cardiac arrest and an\u00a0overdose.\u00a0Dharamsi says even though the tent is meant to be a waiting area, they want to be prepared to handle any potential medical emergencies.\u00a0In the training process, they use\u00a0various tools to communicate with staff inside and practise moving the patient safety.<\/p>\n

She says they take notes on what they observe throughout the\u00a0simulation.<\/p>\n

“It can be as basic as the ground is uneven, which makes it difficult to push a stretcher. Or it can be as complex as how do we deliver CPR on a patient who is outside of our [emergency room],” she said.<\/p>\n

“Then we write all of these challenges down, and we solve them one by one by one.”<\/p>\n

Protocols on how to handle various\u00a0challenges and changes in the emergency department throughout the pandemic have been written based on training sessions like these.<\/p>\n

Sarah McDermid-Flabbi, an advanced-practice nurse educator at UHN,\u00a0says the simulations are aimed at making\u00a0both patients and staff feel safe and supported.<\/p>\n

“It gives us an opportunity to do things in a light-hearted way;\u00a0to learn in a safe environment, to make mistakes in a safe environment,” she said. McDermid-Flabbi added\u00a0she’s been amazed by the number of times the team has adapted to new protocols, and the ways it’s brought her colleagues closer together.<\/p>\n

“The pandemic has taught us to think on our feet time and time again.”<\/p>\n

The ups and downs of ER visits<\/h2>\n

Dr. Sam Sabbah,\u00a0medical director of UHN’s emergency departments, says at the peak of every wave of COVID-19, he sees a reduction in patients with other health issues.<\/p>\n

“As the COVID activity comes down, people feel more comfortable seeking care for things that really they’ve been suffering from for a while,” Sabbah said.<\/p>\n

“I anticipate as the vaccination ramps up and people feel more safe and comfortable, we will see a surge in activity in the emergency departments for many of the conditions that have been deferred throughout.”<\/p>\n

Currently, he says, the hospitals are seeing a number of overdoses, patients experiencing mental health crises and victims of domestic violence and child abuse.<\/p>\n

\"Dr
Dr. Sam Sabbah, the medical director of emergency departments at UHN, wants patients to know that emergency departments are safe and people shouldn’t delay care. (Talia Ricci\/CBC)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“All of those are the unwanted effects of being in a lockdown situation and people being confined indoors all the time,” he said.<\/p>\n

In recent weeks, there have also been ER visits due to concerns over vaccine side effects, but Sabbah says the vast majority of the symptoms are minor.<\/p>\n

“Unfortunately, because of all the concerns around the serious side effects, it’s caused a lot of distress to people who are seeking an assessment to ensure they’re not having the serious side effects.”<\/p>\n

In addition to the waiting room tents, UHN and its partners have also created and expanded a\u00a0virtual emergency room\u00a0so people can access care from their homes and avoid a visit. But Sabbah wants people to know their emergency departments are safe.<\/p>\n

“If you’re feeling unwell, you really should come and get checked out. Many conditions have a time sensitive complication rate so the longer you wait, the more likely complications will develop. We certainly would not want that for anyone.”<\/p>\n

Despite these challenges, and the anticipated surge in non-COVID-19 patients in emergency rooms, Sabbah says he’s feeling hopeful about the future\u00a0of health care in the province post-pandemic.<\/p>\n

“It’s really taught us how to work together as a system more effectively than we’ve ever done before.”<\/p>\n

Dharamsi anticipates\u00a0the tents will\u00a0be ready to use within the next few weeks.<\/p>\n

“Ideally, this will remain a tent that never has a patient in it because that means we’re able to adapt our inside spaces,” she said.<\/p>\n

“But we’ll be ready, if we do.”<\/p>\n

CBC<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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