NO ROOM FOR ASSUMPTIONS: COVID-19 PREPAREDNESS PROJECT

SESSION TITLE: Disaster Medicine Posters SESSION TYPE: Original Investigation Posters PRESENTED ON: October 18-21, 2020 PURPOSE: Over the last 20 years, multiple global viral threats have been encountered, however, maybe none as far-reaching as COVID-19 In 2003, 21% of SARS cases involved healthcare workers (HCWs) and similar rates were observed for H1N1 and MERS In studies that followed, elevated infection rates among HCWs were attributed to lack of proper personal protective equipment (PPE), improper training, and confusion surrounding infection control policy HCWs at our institution expressed high stress levels regarding their own safety and the safety of their families Although the COVID-19 pandemic is still evolving, its infectivity rate amongst HCWs seems comparable, with Italian HCWs constituting 20% of infections as of March 21, 2020 The purpose of our project was to assess the impact of our pandemic preparedness project on HCWs competence and confidence METHODS: Our institution has an established biocontainment unit (BCU), one of only a few in Pennsylvania A multi-disciplinary team comprised of representatives from our BCU, critical care, nursing as well as respiratory therapy developed a multi-modal, interactive teaching session to equip our frontline HCWs Each session was comprised of COVID-19 clinical updates, details on our institutional response, and simulation for donning and doffing PPE We created pre-post intervention surveys to measure competency and the intervention’s impact on HCWs confidence Competency was determined by correct identification of isolation zones, proper order for donning and doffing PPE and identification of aerosolizing procedures HCWs confidence level was obtained by subjective questioning Pre-and Post-survey analysis was performed using Student’s t-test and one-sided Fisher’s exact test RESULTS: A total of 123 participants signed in during training and 114 (92 7%) answered pre-surveys while 92 (74 8%) completed post-surveys Our participants represented a large portion of frontline HCWs including respiratory therapists, nursing, advanced practitioners, house staff and attending physicians from surgical and non-surgical fields A significant improvement was noted across all domains (p < 0 001);isolation zone identification (pre M = 0 26, SD = 0 44;post M = 0 80, SD = 0 40), donning and doffing (pre M = 0 25, SD = 0 44;post M = 0 74, SD = 0 44), aerosolizing procedures (pre M = 0 37, SD = 0 48;post M = 0 84, SD = 0 34), and provider confidence (pre M = 0 14, SD = 0 35;post M = 0 85, SD = 0 36) CONCLUSIONS: After our COVID-19 preparedness training, HCWs experienced improvement in competency and confidence CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: In a pandemic, there is no room to assume preparedness and timely implementation of training with similar renewal requirements to BLS and ACLS may be prudent to maintain confidence and competency DISCLOSURES: No relevant relationships by John Harahus, source=Web Response No relevant relationships by Tara Little, source=Web Response no disclosure on file for Frank Lodeserto;No relevant relationships by Alexis MacDonald, source=Web Response No relevant relationships by Tiffany Miller, source=Web Response no disclosure submitted for Mary Jane Reed;No relevant relationships by Amy Reiner, source=Web Response No relevant relationships by Kenneth Snell, source=Web Response