Hospital Preparedness for Critical Care during COVID-19 Pandemic: Exploratory Cross-sectional Study

John Rene Labib; Sally Kamal; Marwa Rashad Salem; Eman D. El Desouky; Ahmed Taher Mahmoud

doi:10.3889/oamjms.2020.5466

Authors

John Rene Labib Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt
Sally Kamal Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt
Marwa Rashad Salem Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt
Eman D. El Desouky Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, National Cancer Institute, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt
Ahmed Taher Mahmoud Department of Critical Care Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3889/oamjms.2020.5466

Keywords:

COVID-19, Critical Care, Exploratory Cross-Sectional Study, Egypt,, Hospital preparedness

Abstract

AIM: The researchers conducted the study to assess intensive care units (ICUs) preparedness in Cairo University Hospitals to deal efficiently and effectively with COVID-19 upcoming waves.

METHODS: An exploratory cross-sectional study was conducted at Cairo University Intensive Care Units 6 pediatric ICUs, and 2 adult ICUs in the period from the end of February to the first week of March, 2020; almost 2 weeks after the appearance of the first case of COVID-19 in Egypt by hand-delivered questionnaire method with one of the ICU staff members who were available and have time to take part in the study. WHO checklist for hospital readiness was used; this checklist based on current knowledge and available evidence on the COVID-19 pandemic for WHO’s Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean Region. The WHO has developed the checklist to help hospital managers prepare for COVID-19 patient management by optimizing each hospital’s capacities. The list composed of 10 key components: (1) Leadership and coordination; (2) operational support, logistics and supply management; (3) information; (4) communication; (5) human resources; (6) continuity of essential services and surge capacity; (7) rapid identification; (8) diagnosis; (9) isolation and case management; and (10) infection prevention and control.

RESULTS: The overall preparedness in both pediatric and adult ICUs was 54%. Overall, adult ICUs were more prepared than pediatric ICUs, especially in communication; continuity of essential services and surge capacity; rapid identification; diagnosis; isolation; and case management. Both of them were comparable regarding operational support, logistics and supply management; human resources; and infection prevention and control, while information component was lower in both types but reached critical values 10% in adult ones.

CONCLUSION: The current study demonstrated the intermediate readiness of ICUs at initial outbreak; further assessment during different phases of pandemic is required. Continues education of HCWs and active communication should be established.

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