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Response to the COVID-19 Outbreak in The Emergency Department Designed for Emerging Infectious Diseases in Korea
Soo Im Cho1, Jung In Ko1, Yeonjae Kim2
1Department of Emergency Medicine, National Medical Center, Seoul, Korea.
Insights
Emergency departments can effectively manage infectious disease outbreaks like COVID-19 through facility upgrades, phased operational programs, and staff training. This approach ensures continued general medical services during public health crises.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Infectious Disease Epidemiology
- Emergency Medicine
Background:
- The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted challenges for emergency departments (EDs) in responding to emerging infectious diseases.
- Effective response strategies are crucial to prevent public health crises and ensure patient safety.
- This study details preparations and outcomes from an ED designed for mass outbreak response.
Purpose of the Study:
- To describe the preparedness and operational strategies of an emergency department during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- To share patient statistics and response outcomes during a period of high infectious disease prevalence.
- To evaluate the effectiveness of facility improvements, operational programs, and staff training.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective chart analysis of patients visiting an ED from January 19 to June 15, 2020.
- Description of ED facility modifications and screening protocols for infectious patients.
- Analysis of patient flow, screening numbers, and confirmed cases.
Main Results:
- A total of 4,352 patients visited the ED, with 3,202 screenings conducted.
- Five COVID-19 confirmed cases were identified among screened patients.
- No ED closures or staff isolation occurred, and general medical services were maintained.
Conclusions:
- Enhanced ED facilities, phased operational programs, and staff education are vital for managing infectious disease outbreaks.
- These strategies facilitate high-volume screening and hospitalization of suspected cases while sustaining routine care.
- Further research into ED design and operational programs is recommended for pandemic preparedness.
Background:
According to the recent coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic experience, many emergency departments experience difficulties in responding to emerging infectious diseases and this has led to a public health crisis. Our emergency department (ED) is designed to respond to mass outbreaks of infection. Three major preparations were taken to respond to infectious disease; first, to improve the emergency department facilities; second, to created programs to respond to each phase of an epidemic of COVID-19; lastly, to implemented education and training to promote the safety of medical staff. We would like to share the actual responses and statistics of patients visiting emergency department during COVID-19 periods of pandemic.
Materials And Methods:
This research was conducted through a retrospective chart analysis provided by a public medical center with 502 beds since the first report of a COVID-19 confirmed case on January 19, 2020 to June 15, 2020 in Seoul, the capital of Korea. Our emergency department was designed based on Korean Regional Emergency Center Facility Standards, and modified throughout each phases of COVID-19 outbreak. Patients suspected to be infectious are screened in the triage, separating them from general patients, and then receive isolation treatment in isolated wards.
Results:
A total of 4,352 patients visited the ED. 3,202 screenings were conducted with 5 confirmed cases. Another 1,150 patients were treated with general emergent symptoms. There were no problems such as closure of the emergency department or isolation of medical staff while managing COVID-19 confirmed patients.
Conclusion:
Improving emergency department facilities, create an operational program to respond to each phase of COVID-19 outbreak and implement educational programs enabled large number of screening tests and hospitalization for COVID-19 suspected patients while maintaining general medical services. Research in emergency department designs and operational programs should increase to combine research data with better ideas to respond not only during regular periods but also during periods of pandemic.
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