Abstract

In October of 2014 Indianapolis found itself, like many communities, preparing for the unknown realities of providing care to a Patient under Investigation (PUI) for Ebola Virus Disease (EVD). A group of clinical experts from local facilities gathered to discuss clinical management, guidelines, challenges, and opportunities. Trainings and exercises with local EMS agencies had already begun within the community. But more in depth hospital exercises had not yet been conducted. The clinicians recommended developing an exercise specific to patient care areas where a PUI would be taken care of.

A team of experts in patient simulation, infection control, patient care, and emergency management was gathered to explore the development of an exercise toolkit to assist local hospitals in implementing their Ebola response systems. What quickly became apparent was that the framework outlined was not only a simulation template for Ebola, but for any Highly Infectious Disease (HID).

What has evolved is a 4-hour patient care simulation designed specifically for the patient care environment where a PUI would be cared for. This timeframe was chosen to allow sufficient time in Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), to test systems, and to allow for a change in patient care teams.

Description

This is a practical tool to help hospitals prepare for highly infectious patients. The background and pre-planning work have been done so clinicians can focus on patient care and identifying safety or patient care issues in their processes.

This document was made available for free to the public on the MESH Coalition website at: http://www.meshcoalition.org/products/1u8ppo0i4o02ebuetqbywcgldfqgj6

Author Details

Justin Mast, RN, BSN, CEN, FAWM; Julie Ann Poore, RN, DNP; Evelyn Stevenson, DNP, RNC-NIC, NNP-BC; Alisha Harter, MSN, RN, CHSE; Debra Fawcett, PhD, RN; Claire Roembke, RN, CIC; Vicki Harden, RN; Mary Kay Foster, RN; Shawn Gibbs, PhD, MBA, CIH; Amy Voris, BSN, RN; Melissa McMasters, MSN, RN

Sigma Membership

Non-member

Type

Practice Innovation

Format Type

Text-based Document

Study Design/Type

Other

Research Approach

Other

Keywords:

Ebola, Exercise, Simulation, Highly Infectious Disease, Toolkit, Emergency Medical Services

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

Publisher

MESH Coalition

Version

Pre-print

Rights Holder

All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record.

All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository.

All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.

Review Type

Peer-review: Single Blind

Acquisition

Self-submission

Full Text of Presentation

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