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Published on: October 3, 2016
Personnel Management and Biosecurity of U.S. High-Level Isolation Units
Jocelyn J Herstein1, Paul D Biddinger, Shawn G Gibbs
1Author Affiliations: Program Coordinator (Ms Herstein) and Associate Professor (Dr Lowe), Department of Environmental, Agricultural, & Occupational Health; Associate Professor (Dr Hewlett), Department of Internal Medicine; Medical Student (Ms Jelden), University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha; Vice Chairman for Emergency Preparedness (Dr Biddinger), Department of Emergency Preparedness, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston; Associate Professor (Dr Biddinger), Department of Emergency Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts; Professor and Executive Associate Dean (Dr Gibbs) and Academic Specialist (Ms Le), Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Indiana University School of Public Health, Bloomington; and Director of Research and Development (Dr Lowe) and Medical Director (Dr Hewlett), Nebraska Biocontainment Unit, Nebraska Medicine, Omaha.
Objective:
To describe strategies used by US high-level isolation units (HLIUs) to recruit, train, and sustain a full team of multidisciplinary staff and identify how units are secured.
Background:
Fifty-six US hospitals have been designated HLIUs, capable of providing safe care to patients with highly infectious disease.
Methods:
An electronic survey was administered to the 56 HLIUs in spring of 2016. Responses were collected via a fillable PDF and analyzed using descriptive statistics.
Results:
Thirty-six HLIUs (64%) responded; 33 completed surveys, and 3 reported no longer being a designated HLIU. HLIUs reported large numbers of multidisciplinary staff, primarily consisting of RNs and critical care clinicians. Nearly all HLIUs (94%) required orientation training, although hours varied.
Conclusions:
Over a short period, HLIUs recruited and trained significant numbers of staff with little guidance. Costs of ongoing trainings are considerable, and it remains unclear how HLIUs will continue funding these activities.
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