An Educational Video Demonstration of How to Prone a Critically Ill Intubated Patient

Area of Science:

• Critical Care Medicine
• Pulmonology
• Infectious Diseases

Background:

• Prone positioning benefits mechanically ventilated COVID-19 patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).
• Hospitals faced challenges with limited staff experience and unsustainable proning teams.
• Staff shortages necessitated training less specialized personnel for safe patient proning.

Purpose of the Study:

• To address the need for safe and effective prone positioning protocols in COVID-19 ARDS management.
• To highlight the risks associated with non-standardized proning procedures.
• To emphasize the importance of multidisciplinary collaboration for patient safety during proning.

Main Methods:

• Review of early pandemic reports on prone positioning for COVID-19 ARDS.
• Analysis of challenges faced by hospitals regarding staffing and proning team sustainability.
• Identification of critical care interventions and team roles for safe proning.

Main Results:

• Lack of standardized approach leads to staff confusion and adverse patient outcomes.
• Potential complications include endotracheal tube loss, vascular access dislodgement, and skin breakdown.
• Multidisciplinary team communication and collaboration are crucial for complication avoidance.

Conclusions:

• A comprehensive proning plan is essential for safely positioning and repositioning critically ill COVID-19 patients.
• Interventions must address prevention of tube/access dislodgement, skin breakdown, and nerve/tissue injury.
• Effective proning requires standardized procedures and robust training for all involved healthcare professionals.