Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT: Background and aim
The transport of coronavirus-2019 (COVID-19) patients on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is a challenging situation, especially for healthcare workers (HCWs), due to the risk of cross-infection. Hence, certain precautions are needed for their safety. The study aims to evaluate the risk of COVID-19 transmission to HCWs who transport COVID-19 patients on ECMO device.Methods
A retrospective review of adult patients with COVID-19 infection supported with ECMO and transported by ground route to the Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU) at Hamad General Hospital (HGH) and a survey of HCWs involved in those cases.Results
A total of 63 HCWs of the mobile ECMO team were exposed to COVID-19-positive patients on 199 occasions. HCWs exposure time was nearly 110 h, and the total transport distance was 1018 km. During the study period, only two of the mobile ECMO HCWs tested positive for COVID-19. There was zero incidence of transfer-associated injuries or accidents to HCWs.Conclusions
The risk of COVID-19 cross-infection to the mobile ECMO team seems to be very low, provided that strict infection prevention and control measures are applied.
SUBMITTER: Tawel R
PROVIDER: S-EPMC9731299 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jan
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Tawel Rabee R Altawil Lubna L Hassan Koya Sunil S Jaouni Hani H Alinier Guillaume G Nashwan Abdulqadir J AJ Labib Ahmed A
Health science reports 20221208 1
<h4>Background and aim</h4>The transport of coronavirus-2019 (COVID-19) patients on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is a challenging situation, especially for healthcare workers (HCWs), due to the risk of cross-infection. Hence, certain precautions are needed for their safety. The study aims to evaluate the risk of COVID-19 transmission to HCWs who transport COVID-19 patients on ECMO device.<h4>Methods</h4>A retrospective review of adult patients with COVID-19 infection supported with ...[more]