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Recommendations for Prehospital Airway Management in Patients with Suspected COVID-19 Infection

Hart, J.

In light of the rapid spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) across the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and hospitals nationwide have developed new protocols to address infection control as well as the care of critical patients. Airway management has been particularly difficult; the challenge of quickly establishing an airway in patients must be balanced by the risk of aerosolizing respiratory secretions and putting the provider at risk of infection. Significant attention has been given to developing protocols for the emergency department and critical care units, but little guidance regarding establishing airway and respiratory support for patients in the prehospital setting has been made available. While some of the recommendations can be extrapolated from hospital guidelines, other factors such as environment and available resources make these protocols unfeasible. Through review of current literature the authors established recommendations regarding airway management and the provision of respiratory support to patients developing respiratory failure related to COVID-19.

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COVID-19 Pandemic and Care of Older Adults at Risk for Delirium and Cognitive Vulnerability

Lee, S.

We are facing a global coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic since the virus emerged in Wuhan, China. Although this virus does not discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, gender, or socioeconomic status, it has the highest mortality rate in older adults. Mentation is an important part of the geriatric evaluation, as it is listed as part of the age-friendly healthcare framework that incorporates four key interventions – what matters; medication; mentation; and mobility (4Ms). Geriatric conditions such as delirium, dementia, and depression will confound an emergent evaluation because of an atypical manifestation of COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 related illness. Furthermore, these conditions are exacerbated by the effects of either social distancing or the financial crisis on vulnerable members of society.1 There is a particular concern that delirium will increase amid the COVID-19 pandemic due to the use of infectious disease isolation, and also pose a unique challenge to the evaluation of mentation in older adults, due to both COVID-19 and the common central nervous system (CNS) pathology not related to the COVID-19 such as cerebrovascular accident (CVA).

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Telehealth Solutions for In-hospital Communication with Patients Under Isolation During COVID-19

Fang, J.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is a public health crisis that has quickly overwhelmed our healthcare system. It has led to significant shortages in personal protective equipment (PPE), ventilators, and intensive care unit beds across the nation. As the initial entry point for patients with suspected COVID illness, emergency departments (ED) have had to adapt quickly to prioritize the safety of patients and providers while still delivering optimal, timely patient care. COVID-19 has presented many challenges for the ED that also extend to all inpatient services. Some of these key challenges are the fundamental tasks of communicating with patients in respiratory isolation while minimizing PPE usage and enabling all patients who have been affected by hospitals’ visitor restrictions to connect with their families. We discuss the design principles behind implementing a robust in-hospital telehealth system for patient-provider and patient-family communication, provide a review of the strengths and weaknesses of potential videoconferencing options, and deliver concise, step-by-step guides for setting up a secure, low-cost, user-friendly solution that can be rapidly deployed.

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Management of Agitation During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Wong, AH.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 has radically altered delivery of care in emergency settings. Unprecedented hardship due to ongoing fears of exposure and threats to personal safety, along with societal measures enacted to curb disease transmission, have had broad psychosocial impact on patients and healthcare workers alike. These changes can significantly affect diagnosing and managing behavioral emergencies such as agitation in the emergency department. On behalf of the American Association for Emergency Psychiatry, we highlight unique considerations for patients with severe behavioral symptoms and staff members managing symptoms of agitation during COVID-19. Early detection and treatment of agitation, precautions to minimize staff hazards, coordination with security personnel and psychiatric services, and avoidance of coercive strategies that cause respiratory depression will help mitigate heightened risks to safety caused by this outbreak.

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Endemic Infections

Novel Barrier Enclosure for Both Aerosol and Droplet Protection Model

Branecki, CE.

Emergency physicians are on the front lines of treating patients with highly infectious respiratory diseases. Personal protective equipment is one defense against contamination from droplet and aerosol secretions. Intubation is a procedure that greatly can increase provider’s risk of exposure. Utilization of an intubation box has been discussed and recommended on social media platforms. There has been scant literature demonstrating the effectiveness of such devices. This study aimed to determine degree of droplet contamination to the intubator utilizing a novel barrier enclosure with a fluorescent simulated respiratory contagion. This model confirmed both added protection to the providers preforming intubation, and reduction of spread of the droplets when such a device is applied to patient care.

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Endemic Infections

Identifying Patients at Greatest Risk of Mortality due to COVID-19: A New England Perspective

Smith, AA.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has spread rapidly since December 2019, resulting in a pandemic that has, as of May 24, 2020, yielded over 5.3 million confirmed cases and over 340,000 deaths.1 As businesses move to safely reopen and frontline healthcare workers (HCW) continue to face this crisis, it is essential that health officials know who in the population is at the greatest risk of mortality if hospitalized and, therefore, has the greatest need to protect themselves from being infected. We examined the factors that increase the risk of mortality among hospitalized COVID-19 patients.

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Endemic Infections

Point-of-care Lung Ultrasound Is More Sensitive than Chest Radiograph for Evaluation of COVID-19

Pare, JR.

Current recommendations for diagnostic imaging for moderately to severely ill patients with suspected coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) include chest radiograph (CXR). Our primary objective was to determine whether lung ultrasound (LUS) B-lines, when excluding patients with alternative etiologies for B-lines, are more sensitive for the associated diagnosis of COVID-19 than CXR.

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Endemic Infections

A Multidisciplinary Intubation Algorithm for Suspected COVID-19 Patients in the Emergency Department

Trembley, LL.

Intubation of patients suspected of having coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is considered to be a high-risk procedure due to the aerosolization of viral particles. In an effort to minimize the risk of exposure and optimize patient care, we sought to develop, test, provide training, and implement a standardized algorithm for intubating these high-risk patients at our institution.

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Endemic Infections

Brief Review of Chloroquine and Hydroxychloroquine Toxicity and Management

Lebin, JA.

As of April 21, 2020, more than 2.5 million cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, have been reported in 210 countries and territories, with the death toll at 171,810. Both chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine have gained considerable media attention as possible therapies, resulting in a significant surge in demand. In overdose, both medications can cause severe, potentially life-threatening effects. Here, we present a brief overview of the pharmacology of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, manifestations of toxicity, and treatment considerations.

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Endemic Infections

Closure in the Time of COVID-19

Brubaker, MA.

“I was able to tell him that I am naming my son after him,” she confessed. I found myself more emotional than anticipated by this stranger’s news. I met Sarah (name has been changed) a week prior to this phone call, because, as a doctor in the emergency department, I had treated her in our “COVID tent.” Like the majority of patients battling COVID-19, she was medically stable and safely discharged home to endure the path toward physical recovery.

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Endemic Infections

The Next Pandemic: Prepare for “Disease X”

Iserson, KV.

The COVID-19 pandemic will, slowly, and with some hiccups and many tragedies, pass into memory. This coronavirus may disappear and later recur, continue endemically under vaccine control, or simply attenuate and vanish.1 The economy and healthcare systems will return to a new normal, some parts more quickly than others. Like the multiple plagues humanity has endured since our ancestors gathered into cities, it will generate recriminations for slow and misguided responses, profiteering, and overor underreacting to economic, social, and healthcare events that will, retrospectively, be obvious.2 The individuals and organizations most culpable for exacerbating the disaster (e.g., many national and some state political leaders) will escape responsibility while they scapegoat others and try to re-write history. Heroes, whether individuals who helped provide clear risk communication and leadership (e.g., Anthony Fauci, MD, of the National Institutes of Health; Sanjay Gupta, MD, of CNN; and Li Wenliang, MD, who died while trying to notify the world about the pandemic) or groups that persevered in the face of fear and life-threatening danger (e.g., emergency department, intensive care unit, emergency medical services, and other critical healthcare staff and first responders) will emerge. Without fanfare, most will return to their normal jobs, scarred but proud of their efforts. As they have before, pundits and scholars will write endlessly about the pandemic’s cause, effects, and ways to ameliorate the next pandemic’s brutal destruction of lives and ways of life. The problem is, we have done all this before and seem not to have learned the lessons our predecessors taught.

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Endemic Infections

In Young Adults with COVID-19, Obesity Is Associated with Adverse Outcomes

Steinberg, E.

For patients with COVID-19, several characteristics have been identified that may be associated with adverse outcomes. However, there is a paucity of data regarding the effect of obesity on young adult patients with COVID-19. We sought to identify whether adverse outcomes are associated with obesity, particularly in COVID-19 patients 45 years and younger.

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Endemic Infections

Electronic Health Record-Based Surveillance for Community Transmitted COVID-19 in the Emergency Department

Pulia, MS.

SARS-CoV-2, a novel coronavirus, manifests as a respiratory syndrome (COVID-19) and is the cause of an ongoing pandemic. The response to COVID-19 in the United States has been hampered by an overall lack of diagnostic testing capacity. To address uncertainty about ongoing levels of SARS-CoV-2 community transmission early in the pandemic, we aimed to develop a surveillance tool using readily available emergency department (ED) operations data extracted from the electronic health record (EHR). This involved optimizing the identification of acute respiratory infection (ARI)-related encounters and then comparing metrics for these encounters before and after the confirmation of SARS-CoV-2 community transmission.

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Endemic Infections

First Do No Harm With COVID-19: Corona Collateral Damage Syndrome

Stock, L.

Communication is complex in that what we say is not always what is heard. Communication that is intended to help can sometimes result in doing harm. The COVID-19 pandemic is a public health emergency. While we rapidly learn of the scientific and healthcare aspects of this disease, there is an opportunity to better understand the consequences of well-intentioned communication by experts.

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Endemic Infections

Remdesivir for the Treatment of COVID-19: A Systematic Review of the Literature

Musa, A.

In March 2020, the World Health Organization declared the spread of SARS-CoV-2 a global pandemic. To date, coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) has spread to over 200 countries, leading to over 1.6 million cases and over 99,000 deaths. Given that there is neither a vaccine nor proven treatment for COVID-19, there is currently an urgent need for effective pharmacotherapy. To address the need for an effective treatment of SARS-CoV-2 during the worldwide pandemic, this systematic review of intravenous (IV) remdesivir was performed. Remdesivir, an anti-viral prodrug originally developed to treat Ebola virus disease, has shown broad spectrum activity against the Coronavirus family. A recent case report reported improvement of clinical symptoms with remdesivir in a patient with COVID-19. After conducting a systematic search of 18 clinical trial registries and three large scientific databases, we identified 86 potentially eligible items. Following removal of duplicates (n = 21), eligible studies were reviewed independently by two authors. After the first round of screening, inter-rater agreement was 98.5% (κ = 0.925). After the second round of full-text screening, inter-rater agreement was 100%. A total of seven ongoing and recruiting clinical trials of remdesivir (100–200 milligrams, intravenous [IV]) were included. We identified the following primary outcomes: patients discharged (n = 2); time to clinical status improvement (n = 2); improved O2 saturation (n = 2); body temperature normalization (n = 2); and clinical status (n = 1). Secondary outcomes in all identified studies included documentation of adverse events. Phase 3 trials are expected to be completed between April 2020–2023. Therefore, despite supportive data from in vitro and in vivo studies, the clinical effectiveness of IV remdesivir for treatment of COVID-19 and potential side effects remain incompletely defined in the human population.

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The Incidence of QT Prolongation and Torsades des Pointes in Patients Receiving Droperidol in an Urban Emergency Department

Cole, JB.

Droperidol carries a boxed warning from the United States Food and Drug Administration for QT prolongation and torsades des pointes (TdP). After a six-year hiatus, droperidol again became widely available in the US in early 2019. With its return, clinicians must again make decisions regarding the boxed warning. Thus, the objective of this study was to report the incidence of QT prolongation or TdP in patients receiving droperidol in the ED.

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Novice Physician Ultrasound Evaluation of Pediatric Tricuspid Regurgitant Jet Velocity

Binder, ZW.

Pulmonary hypertension, associated with high mortality in pediatric patients, is traditionally screened for by trained professionals by measuring a tricuspid regurgitant jet velocity (TRJV). Our objective was to test the feasibility of novice physician sonographers (NPS) to perform echocardiograms of adequate quality to exclude pathology (defined as TRJV > 2.5 meters per second).

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A Novel Multimodal Approach to Point-of-Care Ultrasound Education in Low-Resource Settings

Dreyfuss, A.

Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) enables physicians to make critical diagnosis and treatment decisions at the bedside. However, access to and expertise with this technology remain limited in Peru. Establishing longitudinal POCUS educational curriculums in remote, low-resource settings can be challenging due to geographical distances, encumbering the ability to provide ongoing hands-on support. Previously described educational interventions have focused on training individual users on clinical applications of POCUS, rather than training physicians how to teach POCUS, thereby limiting scalability and sustainable impact. We therefore describe our experiences establishing the first ultrasound fellowship curriculum in Peru, which incorporates tele-ultrasonography to circumvent traditional geographical barriers.

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Diagnostic Accuracy of Point-of-Care Ultrasound for Intussusception in Children Presenting to the Emergency Department: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Lin-Martore, M.

Ileocolic intussusception is a common cause of pediatric bowel obstruction in young children but can be difficult to diagnose clinically due to vague abdominal complaints. If left untreated, it may cause significant morbidity. Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is a rapid, bedside method of assessment that may potentially aid in the diagnosis of intussusception. The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to determine the diagnostic accuracy of POCUS for children with suspected ileocolic intussusception by emergency physicians (EP).

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Endemic Infections

Point-of-care Lung Ultrasound Is Useful to Evaluate Emergency Department Patients for COVID-19

Walsh, P.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) can be a life-threatening lung disease or a trivial upper respiratory infection depending on whether the alveoli are involved. Emergency department (ED) evaluation of symptomatic patients with normal vital signs is frequently limited to chest auscultation and oro-nasopharyngeal swabs. We tested the null hypothesis that patients being screened for COVID-19 in the ED with normal vital signs and without hypoxia would have a point-of-care lung ultrasound (LUS) consistent with COVID-19 less than 2% of the time.

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Endemic Infections

Underutilization of the Emergency Department During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Lucero, AD.

The novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in the United States (US) prompted widespread containment measures such as shelter-in-place (SIP) orders. The goal of our study was to determine whether there was a significant change in overall volume and proportion of emergency department (ED) encounters since SIP measures began.

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Orange, CA 92868, USA
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Email: editor@westjem.org

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WestJEM
ISSN: 1936-900X
e-ISSN: 1936-9018

CPC-EM
ISSN: 2474-252X

Our Philosophy

Emergency Medicine is a specialty which closely reflects societal challenges and consequences of public policy decisions. The emergency department specifically deals with social injustice, health and economic disparities, violence, substance abuse, and disaster preparedness and response. This journal focuses on how emergency care affects the health of the community and population, and conversely, how these societal challenges affect the composition of the patient population who seek care in the emergency department. The development of better systems to provide emergency care, including technology solutions, is critical to enhancing population health.