Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-v9fdk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-13T03:42:13.699Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Converting an Under-Construction Healthcare Facility into a COVID-19 Screening and Emergency Response Centre During Complete Lockdown in India

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 August 2021

Vijaydeep Siddharth Open the ORCID record for Vijaydeep Siddharth [Opens in a new window] ,
Mohammad Kausar ,
K Vamsi Krishna Reddy ,
T.P. Arif ,
Tejprakash Sinha ,
Sanjeev Bhoi ,
Puneet Khanna  and
Maneesh Singhal
Vijaydeep Siddharth*
Affiliation:
Department of Hospital Administration, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India
Mohammad Kausar
Affiliation:
Department of Hospital Administration, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh, India
K Vamsi Krishna Reddy
Affiliation:
Department of Hospital Administration, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Mangalagiri, Guntur District, Andhra Pradesh, India
T.P. Arif
Affiliation:
Department of Hospital Administration, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India
Tejprakash Sinha
Affiliation:
Department of Emergency Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India
Sanjeev Bhoi
Affiliation:
Department of Emergency Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India
Puneet Khanna
Affiliation:
Department of Anaesthesia, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India
Maneesh Singhal
Affiliation:
Department of Burns and Plastic Surgery, AIIMS, New Delhi, India
*
Corresponding author: Vijaydeep Siddharth, Email: dr.siddharthmamc@gmail.com.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In view of the COVID-19 surge, the construction of the Burns and Plastic Surgery Block at AIIMS, New Delhi was expedited at war footing level and converted into a COVID-19 Emergency response Centre (ERC). Engineering works were completed in a speedy manner and various patient care areas were equipped as deemed necessary for providing tertiary care to COVID-19 patients. A highly spirited team comprising of Emergency Medicine Specialists, Anesthesia and Critical Care specialist, Hospital Administrators and Nursing Officers was formed. Effective segregation of patient care areas into clean, contaminated, and intermediate zones was done using physical barriers and air conditioning modifications. The screening area for patients suspected of having COVID-19 was created in addition to a 2-step process i.e., Triage 1 and Triage 2, thereafter, patients requiring admission would be referred to the emergency area. An in-house designed and fabricated sampling booth was created to bring down the use of PPEs and for better infection control. The ERC has a general ward and state of the art intensive care units. Mobilizing resources (machinery, manpower, consumables etc.) during the lockdown required commitment from top leadership, motivated teams, expeditious procurement, coordination with multiple agencies working on site, expediting statutory clearances, coordination with police services, transportation of labor etc.

Keywords

Coronavirus diseaseCOVID hospitalCOVID managementemergency response centrehealthcare facility planning
Type
Brief Report
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 16 , Issue 5 , October 2022 , pp. 1839 - 1843
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc.

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Krausz, M, Westenberg, JN, Vigo, D, Spence, RT, Ramsey, D. Emergency response to covid-19 in Canada: Platform development and implementation for eHealth in crisis management. JMIR Public Health Surveill. 2020;6(2):e18995.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Agarwal, A, Nagi, N, Chatterjee, P, et al. Guidance for building a dedicated health facility to contain the spread of the 2019 novel coronavirus outbreak [published correction appears in Indian J Med Res. 2020 May;151(5):504]. Indian J Med Res. 2020;151(2 & 3):177-183.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India. Dr. Harsh Vardhan takes stock of preparedness of AIIMS trauma centre: Dedicated COVID-19 hospital. 2020. https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1618465. Accessed November 10, 2020.Google Scholar
Kim, SI, Lee, JY. Walk-through screening center for covid-19: An accessible and efficient screening system in a pandemic situation. J Korean Med Sci. 2020;35(15):e154.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kumar, P, Killedar, M, Singh, G. Adaptation of the ‘assembly line’ and ‘brick system’ techniques for hospital resource management of personal protective equipment, as preparedness for mitigating the impact of the covid-19 pandemic in a large public hospital in India. J Hosp Infect. 2020;105(4):787-789.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
American Society of Heating, Refrigerating & Air conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE). ASHRAE Position Document on Infectious Aerosols. 2020. https://www.ashrae.org/file%20library/about/position%20documents/pd_infectiousaerosols_2020.pdf. Accessed June 12, 2020.Google Scholar
Fink, RG, Ellis, WB. Device, system and method for an advanced oxidation process using photohydroionization. Google patent US7988923B2. 2020. https://patents.google.com/patent/US7988923B2/en. Accessed September 6, 2020.Google Scholar
Ameli, J. Communicable Diseases and Outbreak Control. Turk J Emerg Med. 2016;15(Suppl 1):20-26.Google ScholarPubMed
Siegel, JD, Rhinehart, E, Jackson, M, Chiarello, L; Health care infection control practices advisory committee. 2007 guideline for isolation precautions: Preventing transmission of infectious agents in health care settings. Am J Infect Control. 2007;35(10 Suppl 2):S65-S164.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed