Abstract
In December 2019, a pneumonia of unknown etiology was detected in Wuhan, China. This outbreak was then declared an international public emergency in January 2020 by the World Health Organization (WHO), and the announcement activated disaster management plans worldwide. This global crisis created several challenges for the health-care sector. This study reviews the challenges faced by a middle-sized urban academic hospital that are likely present to some extent in all health-care sectors, regardless of their existing disaster plans and policies. While preparing this Saudi academic hospital with a capacity of 192 beds for the emerging pandemic, obstacles arose despite its extensive prior disaster planning and training. Specifically, these challenges were related to health-care workers, supplies, and patient care. We review the actions taken to overcome and resolve these difficulties and provide future planning suggestions for each area to potentially assist other hospitals in their disaster planning and preparedness.
Highlights
In December 2019, a pneumonia of unknown etiology was detected in Wuhan, China
Disaster preparedness is an integral part of hospital policies and procedures,[1] hospital preparedness before the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic focused in improving surge capacity, or the “health-care system’s ability to manage a sudden or rapidly progressive influx of patients within the currently available resources at a given point in time.”[2]
When the World health Organization (WHO) announced that the spreading pneumonia was a public health emergency of international concern, a COVID-19 Task Force team was created on February 4, 2020
Summary
In December 2019, a pneumonia of unknown etiology was detected in Wuhan, China This outbreak was declared an international public emergency in January 2020 by the World Health Organization (WHO), and the announcement activated disaster management plans worldwide. This study reviews the challenges faced by a middle-sized urban academic hospital that are likely present to some extent in all health-care sectors, regardless of their existing disaster plans and policies. While preparing this Saudi academic hospital with a capacity of 192 beds for the emerging pandemic, obstacles arose despite its extensive prior disaster planning and training.
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