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UMMC Anesthesiology Department Stands Prepared for the Covid-19 Pandemic

By Sara B. Robertson
 
It is hard to believe that we are currently in the midst of a pandemic. COVID-19 has come and taken over every aspect of our lives. Life as we know it will more than likely never be the same—cancelled or postponed weddings, graduations, baby showers and even holidays. We are sheltering in place with the hopes of “flattening the curve” and saving lives all over this wonderful country of ours. Despite all the craziness that is going on, our department is as strong as ever, and we are prepared for whatever comes our way!  
 
From the very beginning, plans were put in motion to take care of these patients and also to keep our staff safe while we decrease overall risk and ensure excellent patient care.  Every hospital area that we deliver care—the main OR, ICU, Wiser, Day Surgery, and Batson—have all put together protocols for delivering safe anesthetic care to patients with Covid-19 or those suspected of having the disease.  Dr. Vale and his team in the simulation center have instructed every single one of our staff members and residents through the simulation for transport, intubation, intraoperative care, extubation, and recovery.  Each operating room area has also made strides to adapt a protocol specific for their area and train their staff so everyone is ready.  Simulations are also being done to instruct those who will be working in the ICU on how to place a patient prone for ventilation.  We also have identified all the negative pressure rooms in the hospital and have outfitted each with all the necessary supplies. 

Several of our adult attendings and CRNAs are currently being cross-trained in the ICU to be able to assume care from our internal medicine colleagues and ICU APN nurses in case they are needed.  Our anesthesia critical care attendings have been rounding and communicating closely with the MICU attendings on how best to take care of these patients as well. 
 
With the help of numerous individuals from other departments, there are several sets of guidelines that the university has put forward in regards to patient treatment, room, equipment, transport, surgery, blood product utilization, and medication conservation.  All these guidelines can be found on our website at the following web address: https://umc.edu/CoronaVirus/Mississippi-Health-Care-Professionals/Clinical-Resources/Clinical-Resources.html.
 

To add to our department’s preparedness, even before Mississippi was experiencing novel coronavirus community spread, Dr. Charles Robertson, one of our pediatric anesthesiologists, knew there would be potential that our ventilator supply could potentially run low.  In true Mississippi “can do” fashion, he developed, built and tested a ventilator that could be easily replicated in mass and uses easy-to-acquire parts. In fact, the parts were originally purchased from a local hardware store—appropriately named the Robertson Ventilator.  He held a press conference on April 7th and by the end of the week was making national news!!  Read more about the Robertson ventilator in the accompanying story in this edition of the newsletter.

On a campus-wide level, the University also stands ready and prepared.  Within weeks of the start of the pandemic, an in-house coronavirus test was developed for our use.  It has decreased the turn-around time for results from almost a week to less than a day.  UMMC has also been working very closely with the Mississippi Department of Health to educate the public about the virus and Covid-19.  With elective surgeries postponed and clinic visits halted for now, some employees have been reassigned to other duties in the hospital and the fairgrounds for testing.  We have a hotline to call for screening if an employee is demonstrating symptoms of the virus as well as hotline for employee wellness during this time.  UMMC sends out daily e-mails with updates about the current state of affairs in the hospital.  Employees also came out in droves to donate blood to Mississippi Blood Services when MSBS could no longer hold their regular blood drives due to social distancing measures. 
 
Even though these are unprecedented times, we are UMMC and Mississippi strong!  The department of anesthesiology is very proud of the work we have done and that the university has done to prepare for this crisis and take care of our patients!