As some of the major problems of emergency response in the Toronto SARS crisis, the following can be mentioned: Though Health Canada knew about the spreading of an atypical pneumonia in Asia, and despite the massive arrival at Toronto airport of passengers coming from the Far East, no measures were adopted to monitor these arriving passengers or to alert the medical service about the risk of having to treat patient with the mentioned disease. (VARLEY, 2005) Not having the proper information, Scarborough-Grace Emergency after being sought by Tse Chi Kwai - a 43 year-old man that in just a few days had lost his mother of what was primarily diagnosed as flue -; whose symptoms were fever, shakiness, difficulty to breath and cough; proceeded with his hospitalization in the emergency area, nearby many other patients. Furthermore, demonstrating Toronto’s lack of preparedness to deal with the new disease, Mr.Kwai’s difficulty to breathe was relieved by the usage of BiPAP, lately recognized as responsible for spreading the infectious virus more severely. (VARLEY, 2005) By that time, though the disease had not still been given a name and though its actual gravity was not entirely known, medical care professionals should have been alerted of the possibility of facing patients infected, and to treat any suspect cases with all the precautions involved in a highly contagious disease, for example isolating the patient. Facing SARS, Toronto’s emergency medical system proceeded without the necessary precaution; once its professional didn’t even consider the possibility to be in contact with a dangerous and unknown infectious disease. The lack of information, other the endangering other patients that sought for medial care, also put at risk the heath of doctors, nurses and other medical assistants. Used to treating infectious diseases without the proper protection equipment, such as gloves, goggles, gown and masks, the medical staff treated Tse, and other patients infected with SARS, without any precaution. The mentioned careless procedure contributed for the infection of many medical professionals, and the consequent spread of the disease in Toronto. While in the middle of the SARS crisis, it became clear that there was a considerable confusion about who was, indeed responsible for overcoming the crises and what was the exact attribution of each department involved. The low synergy between the Toronto Public Health (THP) and the Ontario Public Health Department, contributed to a poor job of tracking possibly SARS infected people and the uncontrolled diffusion of the disease.
VanderBent, S. D. (2009, September). Home Care and Pandemic Flu. In Ontario Home Care Association Bringing Health Care Home. Retrieved March 10, 2014, from https://www.homecareontario.ca/public/docs/publications/position%20papers/2009/Home-Care-and-Pandemic-Flu.pdf
During my clinical placement at Fremantle hospital, I ensured that I read and understood all policies and procedures of hospital. I also got myself familiarized with infection control and risk and safety guidelines so that I could follow them properly in need. I also come to know the importance of wearing personal protective clothing (PPE) in relation to different disease conditions. I also come to know that as a nursing student I am not allowed to check or administered schedule 4 and schedule 8 drugs and not even could hold the keys for locked cupboard. During my first week, I come across a patient who was on vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) control precautions with episode of stroke and left sided weakness. In this case, prior going to patient’s room, the necessary PPE required was gown, gloves with mask and goggles as extra precautions if needed. I noticed one of the occupational therapist went to
...d be held responsible for not creating a more adaptable program that could deal with these occurrences. The NIIP must be evaluated for its drawbacks and its successes, so that people will not just see this as an unfortunate historical event, but can use it to help further immunization and disease-fighting programs in the future.
The risk of this Public Health dilemma is that if M.R.S.A. is becoming even more dominant in hospitals what is preventing this epidemic from expanding to an even more dangerous ...
One factor prevalent in our nation’s hospitals which, although under-represented by the media, is significantly detrimental to the advancement of the United States healthcare system is Hospital/Healthcare Associated Infections, or HAIs. These infections were first identified as a serious threat to patient safety during the 1930s. In the 1940s, The British Medical Council appointed infection officers in various hospitals to attempt to regulate and control causes of infection, although such officers only became common in the 1950s during a severe outbreak of Staphyloccosus. After a brief investigation had been conducted, it was found that nearly 100% of patients and staff in various British hospitals had contracted elements of the virus through lack of hygienic precaution during open wound surgeries. Fortunately, the ready availability of penicillin prevented a severe outbreak, but the continued overuse of the drug resulted in drug resistant bacteria and virus and the discovery of the Staphyloccosus Aureus - a virulent skin pathogen immune to initial penicillin serums and recognized as the first antibiotic resistant bacterium - in the late 1960s. By the early 1970s, the drive to control hospital infections was well established in the United States, however, the movement was unorganized and there was no success in eliminating infections associated with medical practices at the time. It was not until 1976 that the control of infectious diseases in hospitals was transformed from a movement to a mandate when The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals demanded that accredited hospitals have infection control programs. Currently the majority of research of HAIs is conducted by the CDC through The Prevention Epicenter Program, w...
In the fall of 1918, a vicious and deadly virus quickly spread through the entirety of Canada, effecting many healthy young men and women. Killing close to 50 000 Canadians in a single year, the Spanish Influenza is considered to be one of the most fatal pandemics in Canadian history. In 1918, quarantines were not a new concept, but the quality and quantity of quarantines changed impressively during the fight against the Spanish flu. Unlike quarantines, vaccines were a completely new phenomenon; prior to the flu epidemic, there was almost no history of vaccines in Canada. However, quarantines and vaccines were not the only measures Canadians took to prevent the spread of the flu, there were other
The purpose of his article was to find a better way to prevent healthcare-associated infections (HCAI) and explain what could be done to make healthcare facilities safer. The main problem that Cole presented was a combination of crowded hospitals that are understaffed with bed management problems and inadequate isolation facilities, which should not be happening in this day and age (Cole, 2011). He explained the “safety culture properties” (Cole, 2011) that are associated with preventing infection in healthcare; these include justness, leadership, teamwork, evidence based practice, communication, patient centeredness, and learning. If a healthcare facility is not honest about their work and does not work together, the patient is much more likely to get injured or sick while in the
...influenza pandemic in one way or another; the use of quarantines were extremely prevalent among them. Also, the pandemic is directly responsible for the creation of many health organizations across the globe. The organizations help track and research illnesses across the globe. The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) for example, strive to prevent epidemics and pandemics. They also provide a governing body with directives to follow in case an outbreak does occur, and if one shall occur the efforts of organizations across the globe will be crucial for its containment. It is amazing that with modern medicine and proper organization that influenza still manages to make its appearance across the globe annually.
Patient education is of paramount importance if MRSA is to be reduced to its lowest minimum. According to Noble 2009, patient’s education stands a critical component of managing MRSA therefore; nurses are expected to be prompt in educating patients on specific measures in limiting and reducing the spread of MRSA by person to person contact. (Noble, 2009) The specific measures includes definition of MRSA, mode of transmission, the damage it can do to the body, specific treatments available and the process of treatment. This is to help the patient take part in the care. Noble 2009 explains that during care giving nurses and all other healthcare provider involve in giving care to a patient should communicate to patient all the precaution that will prevent the transmission of MRSA, and also giving the scientific rationale for the use of any precaution that is been used in the cause of care giving. (Noble, 2009.)
The Influenza Pandemic of 1918 had a major effect on the public health in America at the time. Coordination between different levels and branches of government improved communication regarding the spread of influenza, improved the amount of people in hospitals, increased the spread of vaccines, and led to improvements in infection control and containment of the flu. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1997248/).
A few years before 1918, in the height of the First World War, a calamity occurred that stripped the globe of at least 50 million lives. (Taubenberger, 1918) This calamity was not the death toll of the war; albeit, some individuals may argue the globalization associated with the First World War perpetuated the persistence of this calamity. This calamity was referred to the Spanish Flu of 1918, but calling this devastating pestilence the “Spanish Flu” may be a historical inaccuracy, as research and historians suggest that the likelihood of this disease originating in Spain seams greatly improbable. Despite it’s misnomer, the Spanish Flu, or its virus name H1N1, still swept across the globe passing from human to human by exhaled drops of water that contained a deadly strand of RNA wrapped with a protein casing. Individuals who were unfortunate enough to come in contact with the contents of the protein casing generally developed severe respiratory inflammation, as the Immune system’s own response towards the infected lung cells would destroy much of the lungs, thus causing the lungs to flood with fluids. Due to this flooding, pneumonia was a common cause of death for those infected with Spanish Flu. Due its genetic similarity with Avian Flu, the Spanish Flu is thought to be descended from Avian Flu which is commonly known as “Bird Flu.” (Billings,1997) The Spanish Flu of 1918 has had a larger impact in terms of global significance than any other disease has had because it was the most deadly, easily transmitted across the entire globe, and occurred in an ideal time period for a disease to happen.
The individuals involved in error should not be punishing but we all must learn from those mistakes by improving the system. In the case above, a root cause analysis was conducted as part of the learning and improvement process. There were a few breakdowns in the system noted that led to this sentinel event. A large part of the issue was related to the utilization of the chain of command by the nurse. Another problem was attributed to the comfort level of the nurse in reaching out to the next person in the chain of command. A final concern was noted regarding why the resident did not come to assess patient after the first time when he received the call from the nurse. Rizzo (2013) writes that we must remain open to anyone who questions the safety of care being provided and we must foster open, honest communication among the multidisciplinary team members. Furthermore, the healthcare systems cannot build a fear of retribution for these mistakes in their employees if they want to build a culture of
Keeping patients safe is essential in today’s health care system, but patient safety events that violate that safety are increasing each year. It was only recently, that the focus on patient safety was reinforced by a report prepared by Institute of medicine (IOM) entitled ” To err is human, building a safer health system”(Wakefield & Iliffe,2002).This report found that approx-imately 44,000 to 98,000 deaths occur each year due to medical errors and that the majority was preventable. Deaths due to medical errors exceed deaths due to many other causes such as like HIV infections, breast cancer and even traffic accidents (Wakefield & Iliffe, 2002). After this IOM reports, President Clinton established quality interagency coordination task force with the help of government agencies. These government agencies are responsible for making health pol-icies regarding patient safety to which every HCO must follow (Schulman & Kim, 2000).
In the 1960s, doctors in the United States predicted that infectious diseases were in decline. US surgeon Dr. William H. Stewart told the nation that it had already seen most of the frontiers in the field of contagious disease. Epidemiology seemed destined to become a scientific backwater (Karlen 1995, 3). Although people thought that this particular field was gradually dying, it wasn’t. A lot more of it was destined to come. By the late 1980s, it became clear that people’s initial belief of infectious diseases declining needed to be qualified, as a host of new diseases emerged to infect human beings (Smallman & Brown, 2011).With the current trends, the epidemics and pandemics we have faced have created a very chaotic and unreliable future for mankind. As of today, it has really been difficult to prevent global epidemics and pandemics. Although the cases may be different from one state to another, the challenges we all face are all interconnected in this globalized world.
Dr. Fauci, a respected immunologist and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, appeared on multiple news outlets to voice his concerns about the mandatory Ebola quarantine. Dr. Fauci said that he was “concerned of the disincentive for the health care workers”. He warned that caution should be made when implementing policies, so as not to have unintended consequences and not group everyone in the same category—in this case, labeling all returning health care workers as a threat to the community. Dr. Fauci agues that this “blanket quarantine” applied to all health care workers is consequential, and that there are better ways of monitoring them that are more dignified, such as passive or active monitoring depending on the viral load that is present in the bodily fluids of the individual. In his conclusion, Dr. Fauci stresses the importance of educating the American people about the Ebola virus disease. While an epidemic of Ebola is waging in Africa, an epidemic of fear is emerging in the United States, and it is this fear that underlines many of the policy decisions regarding processing of those coming from Ebola-stricken