Source avec lien : The Journal of Emergency Medicine, Prépublication, . 10.1016/j.jemermed.2020.11.026
En mars 2020, l’Organisation mondiale de la santé a déclaré que la maladie à coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) – une maladie causée par un nouveau coronavirus – était une pandémie, et elle a continué à se propager rapidement dans la communauté. Notre institution a mis en place un système de télésanté pour la médecine d’urgence qui visait à accélérer les soins aux patients stables, à réduire l’exposition des prestataires de soins à la COVID-19, à diminuer le taux d’utilisation global des équipements de protection individuelle et à fournir une plate-forme permettant aux médecins infectés ou mis en quarantaine de continuer à travailler. Cet effort a été parmi les premiers à utiliser la télésanté pour pratiquer la médecine d’urgence dans le cadre d’une pandémie aux États-Unis.
Background In March of 2020, the World Health Organization declared coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)—a disease caused by a novel coronavirus—a pandemic, and it continued to spread rapidly in the community. Our institution implemented an emergency medicine telehealth system that sought to expedite care of stable patients, decrease provider exposure to COVID-19, decrease overall usage rate of personal protective equipment, and provide a platform so that infected or quarantined physicians could continue to work. This effort was among the first to use telehealth to practice emergency medicine in the setting of a pandemic in the United States. Discussion Outside the main emergency departments at each of 2 sites of our academic institution, disaster tents were erected with patient care equipment and medications, as well as technology to allow for telehealth visits. The triage system was modified to appropriately select low-risk patients with symptoms suggestive of COVID-19 who could be seen in these disaster tents. Despite some issues that needed to be addressed, such as provider discomfort, limited medication availability, and connectivity problems, the model was successful overall. Conclusions Other emergency departments might find this proof of concept article useful. Telehealth will likely be used more broadly in the future, including emergency care. It is imperative that the health care system continues to adapt to respond appropriately to challenges such as pandemics.